Secrets
by Massacre13
Summary: Midnight begins her second year at Hogwarts after a hard summer of endless training. She's smarter, stronger and ready to face another year in the same dorm as Pansy Parkinson. But with warnings written on the walls in blood and everyone out for Slytherin's heir, who's side will be really be on? *Disclaimer - I own nothing except Midnight's character*
1. The End Of Summer

**Hi again! A bit later up than I wanted it to be but its up. I don't know how good the update rate will be to begin with - I'm at work most days and when I'm not I'm somehow really buse. But I'll do my best. :)**

**Remember this is a sequel, if you haven't checked out the original which is just called 'Midnight' yet, go and do that first because this story will have spoilers of the first and refer back to it a lot. **

**Remember to leave a comment telling me what you think and I'll talk to you all soon. Enjoy :)**

* * *

I felt adrenaline pumping through my veins as our swords clashed. I ducked, dodged, went on the attack, my feet moving by themselves, no need for me to instruct them. I felt my heart pounding in my chest, the dying sunlight shining through the windows, gleaming off our swords as hilt met hilt.

"You're getting good," Alex grunted. I grinned determinedly, eye and hair colour changing continuously to try to ruin his focus – a tactic he himself had told me to try and include in as many fights as possible to throw the enemy. We flew apart and I quickly dodged a sneaky swipe before going on the offence, attempting to distract him by using the sword and then go in with an attack to the legs.

It almost worked, but he dodged at the last second and sent my sword clattering to the floor. The next thing I knew his sword was t my throat, and I was beaten. I panted, letting my lungs get air.

"I said you're getting good. But you still need work before you'll be able to take me out with a move like that." He said, panting as well. I've gotten a lot stronger and a lot faster since the start of summer. Training every day from dawn till dusk for just about six weeks has done me a world of good, despite the fact I go to bed every night aching. And I don't plan to stop training once I go back to Hogwarts next week. Alex has given me a strict schedule which involved training from dawn till breakfast and then again after all my lessons are finished until nightfall. Of course in winter that schedule will revolve around times more than dawn and dusk, otherwise I'd get no training done at all.

"All right, I think we're done for today," he said, sitting down on a bench at the side of the room. I handed my sword back to him and walked out, stretching. Dobby was waiting for me outside of the room, as he is every evening, with a towel and glass of water.

"Thanks Dobby," I smiled, taking both. Dobby nodded.

"The master has told Dobby to remember to inform the young mistress that they are going to Diagon Alley tomorrow morning, and her tutoring is cancelled for the day."

"Thank you Dobby," I smiled, and carried on to go to my room. I took a shower and then changed into my pyjamas before going back downstairs. I grabbed an apple, noticing how everyone else had already gone to bed. I'm not surprised. It must be past ten, at the least.

I walked into the main hall and unbolted the front door, opening it just a little. A small voice hissed her thanks as she slithered in. Chara has grown a lot too this summer. She's almost two feet longer than she was before. But then she's eating properly for the first time in her life, I'll bet.

I locked the door once she was through and we went upstairs together to my room. Βοήθεια was stood on her perch, waiting impatiently for me to let her out. I opened the window and Βοήθεια spread her wings, soaring out of the room and into the night.

I ate my apple, and got into bed. I laid awake for a few moments, thinking, as I usually do. I think about a lot of stuff, but mainly, I think about my parents. I think, finally, I've figured out what I need to do. She's busy in America, so I need to make sure the balance doesn't get too out of hand over here. I need to be able to work for or against both 'sides' if I need to. When I figured that out I was actually quite pleased with myself. I mean, I've already got Harry to trust me and if I keep it that way he'll persuade the others to trust me too. Draco will believe anything I say. I've got the biggest gossip in the school living in the same dorm as me, so if I need any 'information' to reach certain ears, I've got it covered.

But then there's dad… if he ever rises to power like he did when I was a baby. I mean, restoring balance is one thing, but I have a feeling if dad ever did get that powerful he'd want me to prove my loyalty and if the stories about him are true… I don't think I could kill someone. Especially someone like Harry. He's too _innocent_. I'm just not sure… but he is my dad. And, as I tell myself every night, I'm loyal to my family. No one else.

I went to sleep with those thoughts on my mind.

* * *

I woke up early the following morning, just before sunrise as I do every morning, only today there's no training. I laid in bed for a while, just listening to Chara's calm hisses as she slept and the low humming in the background. It's always there, just in the back of my mind, just a low, deep hum. Sometimes its whispers too, but I put that down to tiredness from training rather than anything else.

It's been a long time since I've just laid in bed. It's quite peaceful. But my ADHD soon gets the better of me, and I have to get up. I took a long shower and then sat and did a bit more packing for Hogwarts. We're going to Diagon Alley to get the new books and better fitting uniforms and everything, so I don't have too much to actually pack yet.

I've not really done anything this summer except train. It's strange to have time on my hands where I'm not doing anything. It's a bit boring, really. I've nothing to do. I waited for a while, watching the sunrise through my window. I opened the window to let Βοήθεια back in, as I do every morning, and then went downstairs to get some breakfast.

The house elves were already up and about, doing the chores and a variety of other stuff that the Malfoy's wouldn't dare touch. It's harsh but true. I mean, they've been really good to me, but they are incredibly pompous. I would be surprised that Nemesis hasn't already punished them for hubris if it wasn't for the fact she needed them because she needs me.

I went into the training room, simply because I had nothing else to do. Alex wasn't there, but his bag with all the weapons in was. I took out the sword I normally use and practised for a few hours, before a young house elf came to fetch me. The three Malfoy's were waiting for me in the main hall as I approached with a small smile.

"Good morning," I said pleasantly. Narcissa smiled at me.

"Good morning, dear. We're leaving for Diagon Alley," Narcissa said, her tone naturally how I'd imagine a real mother's would be – soft, gentle.

"Great, let's go," I smiled. Lucius held his arm out to Draco, and Narcissa held her arm out for me. In pairs, we apparated to Diagon Alley. Noise filled my ears as we entered the bustling street.

"There's lots to do. Come along now," Lucius said in his calm yet stern tone that demands obedience. He linked arms with Narcissa and walked towards Flourish and Blotts – the book store. People were crowding around it, and there were strong white flashes, seemingly from cameras coming from inside. We walked in, just in time to see Harry being pushed to the front of the crowd to be grabbed by a tall blonde main with a pompous grin on his face. At first he muttered something to a very uncomfortable looking Harry, while I noticed Narcissa joining the crowd to buy our books and Draco sneaking off up the stairs to our left. The blonde man addressed the crowd, his tone arrogant, attempting charisma.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what an extraordinary moment this is. When young Harry stepped into Flourish and Blotts this morning to purchse my autobiography '_Magical Me_'" There was a pause while everyone clapped. I rolled my eyes. What a creep. How can anyone like this guy? He's as fake as anything. "which incidentally is currently celebrating its 27th week atop the _Daily Prophet_ bestseller list, he had no idea he would in fact, be leaving with my entire collected works free of charge." He shoved the books into Harry's hands as everyone clapped. More photographs were taken as he pushed Harry away, sitting down to sign the books. Harry and was hurried towards the back of the crowd, followed by Ron, Hermione and a group of other redheads, who I assumed to be Ron's siblings.

Draco was stood on the sides, looking at an open book – or at least pretending to look. His real focus was on Harry. I, meanwhile, leant next to the doorframe casually, completely relaxed, my dark hair ringlets falling to just past my shoulders, eyes dark brown. The photographer passed us and hurried out of the door while Harry shuffled, seemingly overwhelmed, to the base of the staircase.

Draco ripped a page from the book he had been holding, putting it down again and hurrying to the bottom of the staircase to confront them.

"I'll bet you loved that, didn't you Potter?" He spat. "Famous Harry Potter. Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."

"Leave him alone." A small ginger girl said confidently, stepping up to defend him.

"Oh look, Potter. You've got yourself a girlfriend."

"Draco," I said, moving from my leaning post and walking over to them "_Relax_," I said calmly, drawing out the word. He glared at me slightly, and then caught the look in my eye and stopped. I know if the group hadn't been there, he would have let a grin slip onto his face. Instead, he frowned obviously, and looked away.

"Looked like you were having fun up there," I said to Harry with a sarcastic smile "How've you been?"

"Good," Harry said with a small splutter "You've gotten taller."

"You haven't," I grinned. I glanced to the small ginger girl. "And who might you be?"

"Ginny Weasley." She answered, obviously untrusting.

"Pleased to meet you. You must be Ron's little sister," I said with a friendly smile, holding out my hand to shake. She looked at it, but didn't take it. I brought it back with a sigh.

"Couldn't you tell by the hand me down clothes?" Draco sneered. I turned to give him a look, but I didn't have to. Lucius Malfoy put his cane against Draco's back, making him turn.

"Now, now, Draco, play nicely." He sent a direct look at Draco, and Draco backed down, not saying anything and moving out of the way.

"Mr Potter," Lucius said with a small smile that said 'I will crush you' in a very not-so-subtle way. "Lucius Malfoy. We meet at last." He held out his hand to shake. Harry took it nervously, and Lucius pulled him towards him sharply. "Forgive me, your scar is legendary." He moved Harry's fringe out of the way with his cane to look at the scar. "As of course, is the wizard who gave it to you." _Oh you just had to go there_.

"Voldemort killed my parents." Harry said strongly, making Lucius frown as he pulled away sharply "He was nothing more than a murderer."

"You must be very brave to mention his name. Or very foolish."

"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." Hermione stated bluntly. Lucius turned to her. I found myself glancing between all of them, trying to read them.

"And you must be Miss Granger." Lucius said, looking to Draco to see if he was correct. Draco nodded.

"Yes, Draco has told me all about you. And your parents. Muggles, aren't they?" He paused, looking into the crowd for the two who 'didn't belong'. Then he glanced to the Weasleys. "Let me see. Red hair. Vacant expressions. Tatty, second hand book," he plucked a small brown book from Ginny's cauldron and looked at it. "You must be the Weasleys."

"Children, it's mad in here. Let's get outside." A man said, hurrying up behind them. He had red hair, and a hat on.

"Well, well, well. Weasley senior."

"Lucius." The two men said, an obvious hatred between them.

"Busy time at the Ministry, Arthur. All those extra raids? I do hope they're paying you overtime. But judging by the state of this," Lucius waved the brown book in his hand as Arthur Weasley puts his arm around his daughter. "I'd say not." Lucius finished.

"What's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?" Ok, time to diffuse this situation.

"I think Narcissa's calling you, Mr Malfoy," I said quickly. He looked to me, and then to the crowd before back to the Weasleys.

"And I thought your family could sink no lower." He said finally, and put the brown book back in the cauldron before walking away past me. I glanced to Draco, and he took the hint, following his father.

"Sorry about them," I said apologetically "he doesn't know when to stop when he gets started."

"And you are?" Arthur Weasley asked sternly.

"Oh, Midnight Smith, sir." I held out my hand for him to shake "Pleasure to meet you." He took it and shook, but not firmly.

"You seem quite comfortable around them." Harry stated bluntly. I shrugged "I guess after a whole summer of it you get used to it." The older Weasley's were looking me up and down as Harry asked his next question.

"Are you feeling any better? After having a break…?" I frowned at first confused, and then I remembered and smiled.

"I'm fine now. But thanks for asking."

"Midnight." Draco called from across the store.

"I've got to go. I'll see you at Hogwarts. It was nice meeting you Mr Weasley."

"Bye Midnight." Harry said, and was the only one to say it, as I smiled, turned and left them to find the Malfoys.


	2. The Train

I packed my trunk, folding my clothes neatly inside so there was room for as many books as possible. I had just closed it and locked it up ready for our departure in the morning from King's Cross Station when a knock on my door disturbed me.

"Come in," I barked. The door opened slowly and Alex stuck his head in.

"Hey," I said in greeting "What's up? I thought training was over for the day."

"It is." He shrugged, holding something behind his back "But I figured, since I'm going back to Camp tomorrow, and you're going to this magic school or whatever, that you might as well take this with you." I stood as he pulled the sword I normally use in training out from behind his back. He threw it to me, and I caught it with ease.

"Seriously?" I asked in surprise, looking at him. He shrugged.

"I figured you'd need it more than I would. Besides, it's your size."

"Thanks," I said, almost grateful. I must admit, over the summer I've come to like this sword.

"Yeah, well." He shrugged "Anyway, if you're still alive by the start of next summer, I'll see you again."

"What makes you think I'm going to be the one who dies, huh? You'll be in more danger than I will." He gave me a sceptical look, and then laughed.

"Yeah. I'll see you next year. I'll probably be gone before you get up."

"See you next year," I said with a smile. He nodded, and left. I looked at the sword and twirled it in my hand, feeling its comfortable weight in my hand. I opened my trunk again and took out my cloak, wrapping it around the sword gently. I set it down in the trunk and closed it back up, putting it by my bedroom door.

Chara hissed a goodnight at me as she coiled up under the bed as I got under my own covers, slowly warming myself up. As usual, I lay awake. Thinking. Just thinking. I'm looking forward to going back to Hogwarts. As useful and almost fun as training is, nothing beats a good rivalry like the one between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and I'm slap-bang in the middle, in the perfect position to watch both sides and do as I please. I can't wait to get back to my old antics. Ah, the days of pranking. My book of names is almost full with all the people I've met, all their fears recorded systematically next to them with age and sibling number and as many other details as I can find. I'm sure I'll be adding to it again this year. There's so much potential, so many possibilities. I'm excited just thinking about it.

But that's tomorrow. As for tonight, I need sleep. It's been a long day, and it's going to be a long day tomorrow too. I've barely started thinking about sleep and I'm already being enveloped in the warmth of my bed and drifting off to sleep to the never-ending whispers around me.

* * *

We apparated to King's Cross Station at ten forty-five exactly, the sound of the train at the platform and the chatter of the parents and children covering the platform thundering in my ears before calming as I adjusted to it. As far as I'm concerned, apparating from a deathly silent room to a bustling train station is not a good idea. Narcissa fussed Draco, but with a look from Lucius she stopped, and stood straight and silent. I've noticed that while I've lived with them – no matter what's going on Narcissa always obeys Lucius.

Instead, she turned her affection to me, giving me a hug and a warm smile. I smiled back and picked up my trunk and Βοήθεια's cage, leading the way onto the train. I found an empty compartment and put my trunk above the shelf, then helped Draco put his on the shelf too. I sat down, putting the cage next to me and my bag on my lap, Βοήθεια chirping at me, Chara silent, hidden in my school bag. At first Draco was silent, then he huffed angrily, looking away.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked, putting my feet up on the seats, completely relaxed.

"Nothing that would concern you," he said moodily. I shrugged, leaning against the wall of the compartment.

"Ok. Whatever." I said bluntly.

"He was just so _smug_, wasn't he?" Draco continued in a spit. I glanced at him.

"Who?"

"Your good friend Potter." He snarled, putting his chin in the air. I closed my eyes and looked away.

"Are you still talking about that?" I sighed "How many times do I have to tell you? The Gryffindors are just business. It's nothing personal." I heard him huff again.

"I don't understand you at all," he muttered.

"No one I've met yet does," I responded casually "I wouldn't worry yourself about it." The sound of the door opening made me open one eye to see Crabbe and Goyle entering the compartment. I ignored them and closed my eyes again as Goyle put their suitcases on the shelf. There was a pause, and then they both sat down next to Draco. I had a feeling they were squishing up, and I knew it when Draco huffed again. I heard him stand.

"Are you going to move?" He asked impatiently. I sighed dramatically and then sat up just as the train lurched forwards. Βοήθεια chirped unhappily as her cage wobbled. I steadied it with a single hand calmly as we were temporarily deafened by the train's whistle.

"Well, we're off," I sighed, rubbing my neck.

"Slytherin will win the house cup this year," Draco said, his bad mood deepening "We can't let Gryffindor win again."  
"I'm sure this year will be better," I said confidently "We let them have a taste of victory last year. This year, we're going to blow them out of the water."

* * *

Ron and I looked at each other as we stood in shock outside of the station. We were both quiet and pale, Hedwig chirping in her cage.

"What do we do? Should we just wait here?" I asked. But what if Ron was right when the doorway first closed? What if his parents can't get back through?

He shook his head and then did a double take to his left, suddenly looking very alert, a small smile spreading over his face.

"The car!" He declared excitedly, standing and grabbing his trunk and Scabbers's box. I stood quickly too, grabbing my own trunk and Hedwig's cage, following him to the small blue car. He opened the boot and we put our trunks in, and then opened the back and put the pets in.

"Quick, we might be able to catch up with the train," he said with a grin as he got in the drivers seat.

"Do you know how to drive this thing?" I asked. He nodded.

"Of course, Dad showed us all when he was first trying to fix it. He was really proud that he managed to work it out. Wouldn't shut up about it all month." He started the engine and began to drive, gathering speed before he pulled one of the gears and the car took off into the sky.

"Uh, Ron? I don't think most muggles are accustomed to a flying car."

"Oh, yeah," he said, pressing a small silver button, and then he shot me a nervous smile. "Let's go."


	3. The Sorting

**Hi guys :) Just a heads up the next update may be a bit later than usual as I'm working every day this week so I'm going to be pretty tired, but I'll try and get it done as quickly as possible. Remember to leave a comment telling me what you think and I hope to hear from you soon :) Enjoy!**

* * *

By the time we got to Hogwarts it had gotten dark, and my ADHD had nearly driven me crazy. I twitched and patted my feet and ruffled my hair and adjusted my tie countless times to the point where Draco had told me to knock it off. It's not as if I have a choice.

The train pulled into the station with a loud whistle, the only light outside coming from a lantern that Hagrid was holding, his large silhouette melting into the shadows. I stood, grabbing my bag as Draco led the way out. I know we're not supposed to take our things with us (that's why I've left Βοήθεια's cage) because it gets picked up and taken to our rooms. But I don't want to risk Chara being found out.

We followed the outlines of the older students who seemed to know where they were going until we reached some horseless carriages. At first I wasn't sure how they were supposed to work as we climbed in them. It was when we sat down and they lurched forwards that I realised that I was just an idiot, and the carriages had a spell on them to make them move. I was glad that I hadn't said anything aloud then. I would have looked really stupid.

The air was cold and sharp as the carriages rode through the night up to the castle. I sensed Chara's discomfort as the wheels of the carriage passed over a large bump, but thankfully she stayed silent. Draco and his parents might know I have a snake, but only Narcissa and Lucius know I can talk to them. I don't want any of that information to leave Malfoy Manor.

We reached the castle without incident with the other carriages. The courtyard was lit up for us to go through the main doors to the Great Hall. I noticed Hermione out of the corner of my eye getting out of her own carriage, but I didn't see Harry or Ron with her. I didn't think anything of it as we walked into the Great Hall, each student almost subconsciously moving towards their fellow house members before we got to the tables. I sat down next to Draco and carefully put my bag under the table, making sure Chara was safe. At the head table the stool and sorting hat had already been placed in preparation for the new first year students. I didn't notice who sat next to me as I looked around – this place is just as it was last year, but it's somehow different experiencing it as a second year. As a first year you're amazed by everything – the floating candles, the enchanted ceiling, all the faces staring at you as you come through the massive Great Hall doors. Now that I think about it, it's quite overwhelming. It's a good thing I was never a nervous kid or I might have actually had some trouble here. I never really was a 'kid' anyway – I took no pleasure in playing with the other drawings, or drawing and colouring pictures to stick on the wall and the fridge. I was always alone, always planning something – just the way I liked it. The way I still like it. And one of the reasons I still like being on my own, to brood and plot away, is sitting down right across from me with a slowly growing smirk on her face.

"Well, well. Not joined up with the freak-show yet, muggle-lover?" Pansy snickered.

"'Muggle-lover?'" I said, bored of her already.

"You know what I mean. Going to be hanging around with the mud-bloods again this year?"

"Shut up, Pansy," the voice next to me piped up. I turned to them, and saw it was Daphene, staring across at Pansy with a stern look. Pansy's jaw dropped, as I was tempted to raise an eyebrow. Daphene was always so quiet last year, always avoiding conflict.

"Well no one's taking crap from you this year, huh?" I said with a grin, and gave her a single pat on the back. She looked to me with a nervous grin, but her eyes were fully focused. Looks like I'm not the only one who's been having training over the summer.

Pansy said nothing else as the last few students took their seats. The chatter in the hall died as Professor McGonagall walked with a strong stride through the middle of the hall and through the massive doors, closing them behind her, read to greet the new first year students. We didn't have to wait long for the doors to open again, McGonagall leading the way with a crowd of tiny first years following her, staring in awe at everything around them. I glanced over each of them, analysing every detail possible. The way one walked, the way another talked, the way another was silent, another snickering. It was all very interesting.

The sorting hat sang an extremely long and boring song and then began to sort people into their houses. At first it looked like there weren't going to be many Slytherin students. Everyone seemed to be going to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. And then halfway through the sorting there seemed to be an almost explosive amount of Slytherin's joining our table before it died down again, and Hufflepuff started to get new house members. I noticed Ginny Weasley (one of the last to be sorted but clearly visible with her fiery red hair) was sorted into Gryffindor like the rest of her brothers. I watched as she went to sit near Hermione, and then noticed I couldn't see Harry of Ron near them. That's odd. They always sit together, and it didn't look like they'd fallen out or anything back at Flourish and Blotts. I would have thought they'd have followed Hermione, or even some of the older students, to the carriages. After all they weren't that hard to find. They couldn't have missed the train, could they? Ginny's here, and looking around I can see her older twin brothers. Shouldn't Ron have been with them, if not both Ron and Harry? Curious. Very curious.

* * *

I sat down next to Midnight and watched as Pansy Parkinson made a beeline for us. Midnight was too busy looking around to notice. I prepared myself for a cat-fight between Pansy and Midnight, even though I knew deep down it wouldn't come to that. Midnight is too calm to start a real fight with Pansy. She's analytical, observing, and she always has this look like she could kill you with a flick of her wrist – she just doesn't want to. I wouldn't put it past her to be able to, either. And she can make you do anything she wants just by ordering you to do it. It's never asking, always an order. She can handle Pansy fine without me.

But I have to learn to stand up for myself, like my father's been telling me all summer. After all, I'm Midnight's friend, and any friend of Midnight's is an enemy of Pansy. I don't want her bullying my sister when she comes up next year. Maybe if Pansy thinks I'm as strong as Midnight, she'll leave me and my sister alone.

Pansy sat down, fully focused on Midnight.

"Well, well. Not joined up with the freak-show yet, muggle-lover?" she snickered.

"'Muggle-lover?'" Midnight asked, looking to her slowly, sounding very bored.

"You know what I mean. Going to be hanging around with the mud-bloods again this year?"

"Shut up, Pansy," I said sharply, feeling the words almost fall from my mouth. Both of them turned to look at me as I mustered my strongest glare and directed it at Pansy, her jaw dropping. I felt Midnight give me gentle pat on the back – as if she wanted to give me a well-done slap on the back but didn't want to be as forceful. I smiled at her, but still felt on edge, before we turned away from each other to watch Professor McGonagall bring the first year students into the Great Hall.

* * *

If there was a choice between standing in front of Professor Snape right now, or being back with the murderous tree – I'd pick the tree.

"You were seen by no less than seven muggles," Snape said, gritting his teeth, holding up an edition of _The Daily Prophet_. How did they get that out so fast? "Do you have _any_ idea how serious this is?" He asked, although we clearly weren't meant to answer.

"You have risked the exposure of our world," he continued "Not to mention the damage you inflicted on a Whomping Willow that's been on these grounds since before you were born."

"Honestly Professor Snape, I think it did more damage to us," Ron said nervously. _Shut up Ron_.

"Silence!" Snape spat. He really is mad this time. As if he didn't hate me enough already. I felt Ron tense next to me as Snape stood from his desk.

"I assure you, that, were you in Slytherin and your fate rested with me the both of you would be on the train home. Tonight." He paused, letting the threat sink in before continuing "As it were,-"

"They are not." A familiar and welcome voice finished as Professor Dumbledore walked in the room, quickly followed by Professor McGonagall.

"Professor Dumbledore. Professor McGonagall." I said, almost relieved. Their arrival is a welcome event. But as I looked at them I began to regret thinking that, as I knew they'd be incredible disappointed. I'd hate for it to be Professor Dumbledore that sends us home.

"Headmaster," Snape said, almost trying to plead his case, "these boys have flouted the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizadry. As such-"

"I am well aware of our bylaws, Severus, having written quite a few of them myself." Dumbledore said calmly. "However, as the Head of Gryffindor house, it is for Professor McGonagall to determine the appropriate action."

"We'll go and get our stuff then," Ron said miserably.

"What are you talking about Mr Weasley," McGonagall asked as we hung our heads.

"You're going to expel us, aren't you?" he said, almost like he'd accepted it. She looked us up and down.

"Not today, Mr Weasley," our heads shot up as we looked at each other. We're not expelled? We're not expelled! I couldn't help but let a grin slide onto my face, and then I quickly let it drop when she started talking again, seriousness settling on our shoulders.

"I must impress on both of you the seriousness of what you have done. I will be writing to your families tonight and you will both receive detention." The Dursley's won't care – it's Ron I feel sorry for.

We glanced to Professor Snape, and I could see the anger on his face. That was the only thing that made the detention seem a lot more bearable.


	4. Herbology

**Hi again :) Thank you for being so understanding about why this chapter is a little late. I've been doing a lot of shifts where I work recently and today was my only day off this week so I dedicated it to writing and posting this chapter for you. I've started writing the next chapter already so I'll carry on with that one and hopefully it'll be out by the start of the weekend :) At the end of the chapter I have a question for you guys, so be sure to check that out because the outcome is all going to depend on you.**

**Oh, and to Korra, who commented on the last chapter (because you're a guest I can't PM you): I'm thinking about it, but don't get too excited because it won't happen for a while, ok? :)**

**As usual thank you for all your support, keep leaving comments I love to hear from you all, and I hope you enjoy the chapter! Bye!**

* * *

I woke up early the following morning and went to the Room of Requirement to train. It looked just as it had last year, if a little more advanced to match and challenge my new skills. I kept one eye on a clock above the fireplace in the room, and the other firmly on my targets. I didn't push myself – I don't want to get sweaty and smelly before the school day starts. Once I've slipped back into a routine I hope I can find time to push myself and then shower before breakfast and before the others wake up – that way I'll more or less avoid any awkward questions. And if Pansy starts trying to make a thing out of it, or starts trying to follow me, I'll just put her in her place. Hard.

I finished training and found I still had over an hour left before the others would even begin waking up, so I meditated for a while. I find meditating is extremely relaxing. It clears my head and makes me feel calm after I've burned off so much energy, slipping my mindset from that of a fighter back into a student. It's rejuvenating.

I set off back to the dorm room to get changed into my uniform. I didn't pass any teachers, or even Mrs. Norris as I went, and the common room was near enough empty, with only a few early risers relaxing on the sofas by the fire. I walked upstairs to my dorm where the other girls were still sleeping. I quietly got changed and went back downstairs, heading to the Great Hall for an early breakfast before the others could get there and begin annoying me. I had just finished eating and gotten my new time-table for the year (according to this I have Herbology first) when I saw the three Gryffindor's walk in and sit at their table.

I stood, putting my time-table in my bag, and walked over.

"Good morning," I smiled, making them look up at me.

"Hi, Midnight," Harry said in reply. He looked tired, as did Ron.

"May I?" I asked, gesturing to the space on the bench next to them.

"Yeah, sure," Harry nodded without hesitation, and I sat down, noticing how the other Gryffindor students looked at me with a mixtures of confusion and hate, the new first years glancing to each other uncertainly.

"I was wondering where you two were. I didn't see you yesterday at the feast," I said casually, looking between Harry and Ron.

"We missed the train," Harry said with a sigh "we nearly got expelled for it too,"

"Missed the train?" I said with a small laugh, and then stopped when I realised they were serious, both of them looking at me. I frowned. "Wait, you actually _missed the train_? How do you miss the train, it's not as if it left early or anything."

"The barrier wouldn't let us through," Ron huffed, wolfing down a boiled egg.

"What?" I frowned "Why?"

"No idea," Harry sighed.

"You don't think someone charmed it to close, do you? To stop you getting in?"

"Why would someone want top stop us going to Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"Let's think," Ron said sarcastically "who hates us more than anyone else and would love to get us expelled?" I raised an eyebrow.

"If you're talking about Draco we were on the train by ten forty-five and he didn't leave the compartment once. Besides, he's not smart enough to pull a stunt like that."

"What about his parents?" Hermione asked.

"Lucius is smart, sort of, but I don't think he's that good at charms. And Narcissa doesn't do anything without his say-so."

"You sound like you know them pretty well," Harry said with a glance in my direction as he ate.

"Yeah, well, I do sort of live with them."

"You stayed there all summer?" Ron asked, jaw dropping to reveal a very unattractive mouthful of half-chewed food.

"I moved in with them," I answered shortly, and now all three of them looked at me. I shrugged "Draco's parents felt so strongly about me living in the orphanage they offered me a place to stay."

"You live with the _Malfoys_?" Ron asked, scrunching up his nose in disgust.

"It's better than the orphanage," I shrugged "but we weren't talking about me. How did you two get here if you missed the train?" Hermione sighed, but I think it was more directed at Harry and Ron rather than my question. She picked up a paper from by her side and passed it to me. It was the latest edition of _The Daily Prophet_, with a moving picture of a car flying and turning invisible mid-air. The headline read 'Flying Ford Anglia Mystifies Muggles'. I glanced to them and grinned.

"Are you serious? That is awesome. Stupid. But awesome." Harry smiled at me with a little scoff-laugh mix. "I didn't know you could drive."

"I can't," Harry answered, "but Ron can."

"Really?" I looked to Ron "I though wizards didn't drive cars."

"Dad likes muggle things." He answered bluntly.

"What kind of things? I asked. Ron shrugged reservedly, but he was watching me out of the corner of his eye, pretending to focus on his food.

"Anything, really. Pictures, phones, car parts. A lot of stuff."

"Cool," I smiled.

"I bet the Malfoy's don't like muggle things," Harry said.

"You got that right," I agreed "I tend to keep things like that in my room at all times. Only the house elves go in there to clean, and they don't really care."

"The Malfoy's have house elves?" Harry asked instantly. I knew he was thinking about something.

"Yeah," I said, watching him "there are a lot of them there. They keep them as servants, you know? They do the cooking, the cleaning, the gardening. There's not a lot they don't do." Harry looked like he was going to say something, but Professor McGonagall interrupted us, watching me with a curious glance as she handed them their new time-tables before leaving.

"We have Herbology first," I said as they opened them to have a look. "With Professor Sprout in Greenhouse Three."

"We'd better get going then, or we'll be late," Hermione said, standing, having only eaten half her breakfast, probably thanks to our conversation. We nodded and stood as well, leaving the Great Hall, like a lot of other students, especially first years who don't yet know their way around. As long as they don't ask any Slytherin students for directions, I'm sure they'll be fine.

We walked towards the greenhouses as a group, although I sensed a bit of tension. Maybe they've started to think about things over the summer. Or maybe the knowledge that I'm now living with the Malfoy's has shaken their 'trust' in me. I'm sure I can get it back. Maybe they just need some time for the information to sink in.

We were the first few to get to the greenhouses, but we didn't have to wait long for more people to show up, Neville Longbottom being one of the first. Herbology seems to be the only lesson I've ever seen him smile in. Then again he's not exactly a very confident person – I doubt I'd smile in a subject I wasn't very good at or didn't like.

Draco, Pansy and the others arrived just before Professor Sprout did, but only really had time to observe the fact I was stood talking to more than the trio of Gryffindors rather than them before she showed up and happily escorted us into the greenhouse. It was as she was handing out gloves and protective coats that I rejoined my fellow house members, standing next to Daphene as we exchanged a small smile. She still has something different in her eyes – a certain determination. I wonder what for, what's changed.

"Good morning everybody!"

"Good morning Professor Sprout," we chorused back in unison.

"Welcome to Greenhouse Three, second years. Gather round everyone, gather round. Today, we're going to re-pot Mandrakes. Who here can tell me the properties of the Mandrake root?" I didn't even have to look at Hermione to know she had raised her hand. "Yes, Miss Granger."

"Mandrake, or Mandrogora, is used to return those who have been petrified to their original state. It's also quite dangerous. The Mandrake's cry is fatal to anyone who hears it."

"Excellent, ten points to Gryffindor." Professor Sprout said happily, and I saw Draco shoot Harry and Ron a dark glare. I elbowed him slightly, and he stopped.

"Now as our Mandrakes are still only seedlings their cries won't kill you yet." Oh, good to know. "But they could knock you out for several hours which is why I've given each of you a pair of earmuffs for auditory protection. So if you could please put them on right away. Quickly." Each of us reached for the earmuffs set in front of us near our own plat pots and put them on our heads. The fur-like texture of my earmuffs scratched at my ears, but I knew I had to keep them on anyway. I'd rather have itchy ears than be knocked out all day.

"Flaps tight town, and watch me closely." Professor Sprout said loudly, so we could hear her over the earmuffs. She moved to her pot and put her fist around the base of the Mandrake stem.

"You grasp your Mandrake firmly and pull it sharply up out of the pot," she pulled on the stem quickly and instantly a loud wailing filled the room as the brown Mandrake root squirmed, screaming in her hand. "Got it? And now you dunk it down into the other pot and pour a little sprinkling of soil to keep him warm." It was at that point that Neville Longbottom fainted, presumably from the cries.

"Longbottom's been neglecting his earmuffs," Professor Sprout sighed.

"No, ma'am, he's just fainted," the boy next to him, Seamus I think his name is, said calmly in a thick Irish accent.

"Yes, well, just leave him there," Professor Sprout said dismissively as Neville's friends looked to his unconscious body on the greenhouse floor. "Right, on we go, plenty of pots to go around." We each reached for our Mandrake pots as Professor Sprout continued talking. "Grasp your Mandrake, and pull it up!" I felt my hand clench around the stem strongly and pulled sharply as high-pitched shrieking filled the air. The roots looked like little wooden babies as they screamed and struggled. Ugly little wooden babies. Draco grinned next to me and wiggled his finger in front of his Mandrake's face. In the second he looked away to grin at Goyle, the Mandrake's mouth clamped down on it. Draco's face turned to a pained scowl as he wrenched his gloved finger from the Mandrake's mouth and glared at it. I grinned and chuckled as we both put our Mandrakes in the empty pots and covered them with soil.

We potted about four more Mandrakes each and then moved them to a separate greenhouse before Professor Sprout dismissed us. Taking off my gloves, earmuffs and protective coat, Daphene and I walked outside side by side to go to our next lesson – History of Magic. We walked essentially alone save for each other's company through the corridors.

"So, what happened to you over the summer?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" she replied casually.

"I'm not stupid Daphene, there's no way this time last year you would have stood up to Pansy Parkinson, even just by talking to her. What's up?"

"Nothing," she shrugged. I raised an eyebrow at her, but she didn't look at me. "I know you could make me tell you. You have that thing that you do. When even Pansy does what you say."

"But I won't," I said calmly, looking to her again "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"You don't tell me things," she responded sourly.

"All in due time, Daphene" I replied. "All in due time."

* * *

**Ok, so I've been thinking a lot about the series and I've rewatched all the HP movies, and I just have this constant thought running through my head: 'Will the time jump leave too much out?' As you guys know I said in the original Midnight story that I was going to do second year and then skip to seventh year, but I've been thinking a lot of important stuff is going to happen in fifth and sixth year that I'm going to miss that I don't think a simple summary will fix. So, what do you guys think? Should I write fifth and sixth year stories as well? Or should I just stick with skipping straight to seventh year?**

**As I said in the original Midnight, I have hardly any ideas for any of the other years, so aside from the few important events that I would definitely write about if I did fifth and sixth year, I might have to ask you guys for prompts. You know, what would you like to see in a filler chapter? What event would you like her to be involved with, or not involved with? That way if I run short of ideas, not only do I not abandon the story, I get you guys involved as well in keeping the story alive. **

**So, what do you think? Because I really don't know. Leave a comment, PM me, anything. This decision's on you. Providing enough people comment, the majority vote will decide the final outcome.**

**Thanks for reading! I love you all! Next chapter will be out soon. Bye!**


	5. Defense Against the Dark Arts

**It was kindly pointed out that I've been spelling Daphne's name wrong this whole time. Yup. I feel quite stupid XD Sorry about that, guys. It's going to be spelt right from now on. Thank you to 'ro781727' for pointing it out :)**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

I was sat at dinner with Draco and Daphne, Pansy glaring at us every so often from further down the table when an owl squawk made most of the heads in the Great Hall turn. No one gets mail at dinner, it's always breakfast. The large grey owl swept into the hall along the Gryffindor table quite gracefully until it crashed into a bowl of crisps, scattering them across the table in front of Ron, Harry and Hermione. Draco and Daphne laughed next to me, as did the rest of the Slytherin table. I let a grin slip to my face.

Ron plucked something from the owl's beak as it stood, unhurt, and flew off out of the hall.

"Hey look everyone!" someone yelled from Gryffindor table – with his thick Irish accent I presumed it to be Seamus. "Weasley's got himself a howler!" The entire hall went silent with anticipation.

"What's a howler?" I whispered to Draco, he sniggered and then gestured to the Gryffindor table at Ron's slowly paling face.

"Just watch," he hissed excitedly.

"Go on, Ron. I ignored one form my Gran once – it was horrible." Neville said, his timid voice ringing out across the hall. Every eye was on Ron as he opened the red envelope the owl had delivered with trembling fingers.

"Ronald Weasley!" A loud female voice suddenly erupted like a volcano from the envelope, filled with anger. The envelope suddenly seemed to come to life, floating in the air and forming a mouth-like shape to stay directly in Ron's face as he got paler, eyes widening. "How _dare_ you steal that car! I am absolutely disgusted! Your father's now facing an inquiry at work and it's entirely your fault! If you put another _toe_ out of line, we'll bring you straight home!" There was a small pause as the envelope turned from Ron to look further down the table "Oh and Ginny dear," the voice continued, only much more gentle, the anger dissipating to address its new audience as all the heads in the hall turned to look at Ginny, "congratulations on making Gryffindor. Your father and I are so proud." The envelope turned back to Ron and the ribbon used to tie it together was stuck out like a tongue before it ripped itself up to land on the table in tiny pieces. So, that's a howler.

The entire hall was quiet as Ron glanced to Harry, trembling. I'm guessing the voice was his mother's – she sounds like a scary woman when she's angry. The silence was broken when some older students from Slytherin burst into laughter, insinuating a wave of giggles and mocking chuckles across the hall. Very few people didn't laugh, but the ones who didn't, or only half-laughed, looked very sympathetic. Probably fellow howler sufferers. I chuckled along with my house-mates, before standing with Daphne and a lot of other students to go to our next lesson – Defence Against the Dark Arts.

We giggled together (although I wouldn't exactly call my laugh a giggle) as we walked down the corridor towards the classroom, the corridor slowly filling up behind us. The door was open when we reached it, and not just slightly, I mean wide open. It was a very unsubtle gesture that he wanted us inside the classroom before he met us.

With a roll of my eyes, I walked in, Daphne close behind me. I headed straight for the back, as I do in every class, and sat down, Daphne sitting next to me without hesitation. Moving pictures of Lockhart lined the walls and a massive canvas of himself painting what looked to be a still portrait of himself was stood next to the staircase to his office. I noticed how most of the girls sat towards the front with dreamy looks on their faces. They can't be serious, right? The rest of the boys in the class seemed to share this thought with me as they glanced to the girls uncertainly.

When we were all sat, Lockhart's office door opened, and he emerged from his office, dressed in gold and white with a long golden cloak. He stood and leant on the banister just outside of his office door.

"Let me introduce you to your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher – me." He gave a grin that I thought was trying (and miserably failing) to be charming. "Gilderoy Lockhart," he announced, moving down the stairs towards the massive canvas, which looked to him with a charismatic smile. He continued talking as he walked down the stairs "Order of Merlin, Third Class, honorary member of the Dark Force Defence League, and five times winner of _Witch Weekly's _Most-Charming-Smile Award. But I don't talk about that." You kind of just did you pompous, arrogant, egotistical… I could go on forever. I could, if he would shut up for one second. But he didn't, he carried on talking. "I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at him." He grinned an ugly grin which for some reason had most of the girls swooning and thought that that smile would scare any banshee away.

"Now!" he announced loudly as he pulled out his wand, making the girls seemingly snap out of their trance as everyone (except for probably me) began to pay attention. My ADHD was already making me bored as I glanced around the room erratically. "Be warned," Lockhart continued, "It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizard-kind," he tapped a cage with a red cloth over it, and the cage began to rattle and move. That made me pay attention, my curiosity getting the better of me. "You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this very room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here." He reached for the top of the cloth and looked at us all, "I must ask you not to scream. It might provoke them!" He whipped the cloth off to reveal a cage full of tiny blue creatures that shook the cage and clambered across each other. The room seemed to breath out a collective sigh of relief, although I was disappointed it wasn't anything more exciting.

"Cornish Pixies?" Seamus sniggered (his accent again the only way I could instantly identify him).

"Freshly caught Cornish Pixies," Lockhart corrected him as Seamus laughed. "Laugh if you will, Mr Finnigan, but pixies can be devilishly tricky little blighters." He reached to the cage door slowly "Let's see what you make of them now!" He pulled the catch off the cage door dramatically and the pixies instantly launched an attack on the room, tearing books, pulling peoples hair. Everyone stood in panic as Lockhart stood at the front of the class, yelling motivation.

"Come on now, round them up, round them up! They're only pixies." Daphne and I stood as I noticed people trying to hide. One person seemed to suddenly get swarmed in pixies, and began to scream. I recognised him as Neville Longbottom. Two pixies were pulling him, one per ear, and lifting him up into the air as he screamed. I pulled out my wand as they raised him higher and higher to the ceiling.

"_Expelliarmus_!" I yelled, hitting the first pixie on one of Neville's ears and sending it cart wheeling away. The other pixie let go of Neville's other ear and he fell, but only an inch or two as the back of his cloak got suck on the chandelier. He dangled there, but looked safe enough, safer than a lot of us on the ground anyway.

"Please get me down!" he yelled, but I ignored him, trying to think of spells to stop them. Lockhart's the teacher, shouldn't he be doing something? I looked over just in time to see a pixie snatch his wand and fly off. This is going to go now where fast. A small group of pixies flew up to me to try to grab my hair and clothes. I instantly pulled my greatest death-glare on them.

"Get back in your cage," I snarled, charm speak filling every word. Combined with the glare and the way my eyes and hair were surely turning red with anger, the three pixies obeyed, and floated back to their cage, letting themselves in, and then locking themselves behind the bars. I sighed and ruffled my hair, feeling it change back to black, eyes back to brown.

"_Immobulus_!" A voice yelled, and instantly every pixie stopped, floating in the air, completely paralysed. Hermione's wand was still pointing in the air as she took deep breaths, the room already feeling so still.

"Why is it always me?" Neville asked from his position on the chandelier.

"_Wingardium Leviosa_," I muttered, pointing my wand at him, and brought him down. I noticed how everyone else seemed to have left the room, run away in panic, save for me, Harry, Ron, Neville and Hermione. Lockhart had gone, and his office door was shut. Coward.

"Come on, let's get them back in their cage," Harry said with a sigh, and then they looked to the cage, and saw the three pixies already in there which were obediently sat down, quiet and still.

"They went back in by themselves?" Ron asked in confusion.

"Does it matter?" I asked sourly, picking up my bag and putting my books (the only set I thought remained pretty much untouched) back inside.

"You're not leaving," Hermione said, flustered.

"I am," I replied stubbornly "It's Lockhart's mess – let him clean it up."

* * *

"He's pathetic," I scowled as Daphne and I sat on one of the sofas in the Slytherin common room that evening.

"He's gorgeous," she retorted. I rolled my eyes.

"No, you just have terrible taste," she shoved me slightly as I smirked. She frowned slightly, looking past me.

"He looks like he's in a hurry," she commented. I turned to see what she was looking at and saw Draco attempting to saunter very quickly from a group of older Slytherins to us, a piece of parchment in his hand. He had a wide grin on his face.

"You'll never guess who's the new Slytherin Quidditch team Seeker!" he snickered.

"Is it Millicent?" I suggested coyly, glancing behind him to the well-built friend of Pansy's. He seemed too happy to scowl at me.

"My father sent new Nimbus 2001's for the team. We'll beat Gryffindor for sure this year. No broom yet is faster than the Nimbus 2001."

"Well done Draco," Daphne said with a smile. His chest almost seemed to puff-up with pride as he quickly left to spread the news around the common room. I know he's happy – but I also know he's only doing it to try to beat Harry. That rivalry is going to get him in a lot of trouble one day, and it's going to embarrass him when Harry kicks his butt in the next Quidditch match.


	6. The Voice

**Hi again :) I thought now would be the time to let you guys know that I'm actually going on holiday at the end of this week for two weeks (France, yay :D), and I'm not sure if they have internet where we're going, so there may not be any chapters from this thursday until 2 weeks on saturday. I'll try to get a good one out on Wednesday, and I'll definitely try to do some writing while I'm on holiday so there should be a chapter coming out as soon as I get back too. But obviously without internet, no matter how many chapters I manage to write, I won't be able to post any. So there may be a lack of updates for just over 2 weeks, but after that the update rate should be pretty consistent again (unless I have to resit any exams - hopefully not, fingers crossed. I get my results back this week the day before I leave so I should be able to let you guys know whether there'll be any delays due to that either).**

**Anyways, as always I love to hear from you, and I hope you enjoy the chapter. Stay awesome!**

* * *

I finished a round of push-ups and sat upright with a long deep sigh. Exercising is so therapeutic once you get into a good routine. I'm barely a week back at Hogwarts and I'm already in the Room of Requirement training every morning from dawn and every evening until dusk. I'd love to go out for a nice long jog, but none of the students are allowed off the school premises, at least none of the students in my year are, and if I jogged during the day there'd always be someone watching me. I'd prefer to be on my own completely if I jogged. Feeling someone's eyes on me would be really weird.

Ron threw up slugs yesterday, I heard. Actually the whole common room heard – it was all Draco talked about. I wasn't there – I was busy doing potions homework with Daphne in the library at the time. Professor Snape has already set a ridiculous amount of work to do, so I figured I'd rather stay on top of it, especially as I spend my mornings and evenings training rather than doing homework. I regretted it as soon as I heard about the incident – I would have loved to have been there.

From what Draco said (so I'm not sure how accurate it is) the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch teams had a fall-out over who was practising on the pitch that day, and the Gryffindor teams saw the new Nimbus 2001's (which probably means Draco showed them off to annoy them) and then Hermione and Ron came over and Draco called Hermione a mud-blood and then Ron tried to hex Draco and failed… I don't know. It all sounded very fun though. I was disappointed that I missed it.

"_Come…_" I looked up at the sound of the voice, and then looked to Chara who was coiled up comfortably in the corner of the room.

"What?" I asked her. She raised her head and hissed.

"_Yes, mistress?"_

"Did you just say something?"

"_No mistress,_" she replied.

"_Come_…" the voice came again. I looked around, tensing, suddenly very focused. I stood, looking around me. The voice seemed to echo from the very walls, although it was very faint, and getting fainter by the second.

"Come on, Chara. Let's go," I said, quickly. I'm not scared, I'm just… concerned. Chara moved sleepily as I gathered her and put her in my bag, leaving the Room of Requirement quietly, my usual routine going short for today.

"_Come to me_…" the voice carried on, growing fainter as I neared the dungeons to get to the Slytherin common room. I walked up to our portrait, a moving depiction of an old, presumably noble member of Slytherin house, with a long beaked nose and dark beady eyes.

"Pureblood," I said clearly, and he bowed his head slightly, the portrait opening to allow me access into the common room. I tried to let myself relax as I walked wordlessly through the common room and up to my dorm room. No one was in there, thankfully, although I could hear someone in the bathroom. I quickly opened my trunk and slipped Chara inside before closing the lid – there are holes near the handles to let her breathe, so I don't have to worry about leaving the lid off so she can breathe. I don't want Pansy or any of the others to even know she exists. She could be in danger if they do.

I walked back downstairs and spotted Draco sitting on one of the sofas near the fire, Pansy sat next to him, slowly squirming closer to him, scooting closer to him. I rolled my eyes and sauntered over, hopping onto the sofa directly across from them.

"Hey there," I said with a sickly smile. Instantly I saw Pansy's face drop from one of dreamy interest to complete disgust as she stopped rambling about herself and fell into a hatful silence for a few moments as I smiled at them both.

"Go bother someone else, muggle-lover," she sneered.

"Nah, I'm good here," I shrugged, turning to Draco, "so how was practise yesterday?"

"We're going to wipe the floor with Gryffindor," he sneered, seemingly happy for the distraction "This year, the cup is ours."

"Nice," I nodded. I saw Pansy clench her jaw as her nostrils flared slightly. Someone's not a happy bunny. Good. She suddenly stood.

"I'll see you later Draco," she said, sticking her nose in the air, and stormed off. I smirked and raised my hand to wave.

"Bye Pansy," I said teasingly, and she glared at me over her shoulder. Draco shook his head at me with a smirk.

"She really hates you,"

"I know," I nodded "that's what makes it fun to mess with her,"

"Who are you messing with now?" Daphne asked, walking up behind me to sit next to me on the sofa, a charms book under her arm.

"I'll give you three guesses," I said playfully, and she sighed.

"Isn't there enough conflict in our dorm without you making more?" she huffed.

"Hey, she started on me, both last year and this year. She tries anything more than a few insults and there'll be _real_ conflict in our dorm room," I said, and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm just saying you're not exactly helping," she muttered stubbornly "you could at least try not to aggravate her."  
"She aggravates me. I'm not the bad guy here," I said defensively.

"You're both as bad as each other," she huffed.

"Except she's all talk," I muttered.

"What?" Daphne asked suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing," I said innocently, and turned back to Draco "so, did Wood give the team any trouble about taking the pitch?"

"Of course he did, but we had our note from Professor Snape. He couldn't do anything about it," Draco smirked.

"Remind me again why your practice day had to be the same as Gryffindor's practice day?" I asked for the sake of conversation (of course I'm not stupid enough to think that it's anything other than because the Slytherin team does everything they can to irritate the Gryffindor team). He didn't answer, but smirked at me with a small gleeful scoff.

"You're back awfully early, anyway, aren't you?" he asked suddenly. I shrugged.

"I just felt a bit tired tonight, that's all. Decided to turn in early." But the unintended reminder of tonight made me nervous. What was that voice? I'm not going crazy am I? I mean, I know I hear whispers sometimes, especially when I'm waking up and going to sleep, but they're never as clear as this voice was. And it was weird, at first I thought it was Chara speaking to me, a little more male than her usual tone, but her nonetheless. But it wasn't. There's always been a clear distinction between the whispers and Chara's voice – they're two different things entirely. The voice tonight was just…weird. And where did it come from? It sounded like the speaker was in the very walls, but I guess it was too faint for me to really tell. It'll take me a while to get to sleep tonight.


	7. Suspicions

**Not a very long chapter unfortunately :/ I've had serious writers block today, it's just been one of those days. I'm going to try and write another when I get home from work tomorrow so I'm not leaving you with such an uneventful chapter as the last one before I go on holiday. Sorry guys :/**

* * *

I ruffled my hair as I stretched, my back stiff from being hunched over my charms book studying and doing homework in the library all morning. I've nearly finished it, which is good because I want to train this afternoon in the Room of Requirement. Tomorrow is Halloween, so I'll have to be there for the feast, otherwise people are going to start thinking I'm up to something – which I am of course, but they don't need to know that. But, going to the feast means I have to miss an evening of training, so I figured I'd make up for it today, you know?

I looked at my latest piece of parchment and then back to my Charms book and rubbed my eyes. Even with the books in Ancient Greek so I can read them, my eyes are still swimming from staring at the same page for so long. I read a few more paragraphs on the disarming charm before concluding my essay half-heartedly. Homework is so dull, it sends my ADHD nuts just sitting here writing, and then pausing to tap my pen on the table which always earns me a steady beady-eyed glare form the librarian.

I put away my books and after a few moments to allow the ink on my parchment to dry, I rolled it up and put that away as well. I rolled my neck and stood, putting my bag on my back and walked quietly out of the library, feeling the librarian's eyes on me as I went.

I passed groups of people as I walked from the library up towards the seventh floor. Everyone seemed to be in at least a pair, or more, no one seemed to be alone. Weird. I tried to ignore it as I walked up the staircases, my thoughts catching up with me. I haven't heard the voice again since that night, and I haven't worked out what it was either. The fact that I mistook it for Chara made me think it might have been a snake – but if there was a snake loose in the castle, I haven't heard anything about it. And I don't understand why it would have been talking in the first place – snakes don't exactly talk to their prey, and no one else would have started off a conversation with it. I just don't understand it. Maybe it's some weird demi-god thing. Or maybe I'm just going crazy, for whatever reason.

I checked that there was no one on the seventh floor and then did the routine of pacing up and down in front of the wall and thinking only of my usual training room. Within seconds the big dark double doors were forming, and I was able to walk in, closing them behind me, so they could remerge with the wall, no one any the wiser to my disappearance.

I sighed deeply, putting my bag on the ground and picking up my sword that I had left here this morning. It stays here most of the time – after all, smuggling a sword around the castle isn't exactly easy, and it always reappears with everything else. It's just easier to leave it here. And I always have my dagger with me if something goes wrong or I get attacked and need to defend myself.

I warmed up and then got to work practising with my sword on the dummies. A standing target really isn't much fun, but it helps me build my strength, especially when the blade gets stuck in the wood and I have to wrench it out. After a while I switched to press-ups and sit-ups, just to vary the exercises a little. I've gotten a lot stronger since I first set foot into Hogwarts. I was always quite healthy – they wouldn't give me sugary foods at the orphanage because of my ADHD (and the fact I was always 'troublesome'), but I never did this much exercise. It's nice, it gets refreshing after a while. After the initial never-ending aching and constant tiredness when you first start, that is.

The push-ups tired me out quickly, so I took a small break, having a drink of water, before continuing with some archery practise (the room provides the bow and arrows for me, which is incredibly useful). I'm not that great with a bow, but what is practise for, right? I'm not as comfortable with the long range weapons as I am with the short range ones, like my sword and dagger. They're more brutal, more fun, more my style I guess. I felt myself get more and more frustrated with every arrow that missed, or only barely hit the target until I gave up, angry with myself at my inability, and went back to sword fighting, mauling the dummy until it lost its shape and was more like a tall stack of broken, splintered wood than a target. With that, I rolled my shoulders and cooled off before getting my bag and returning to the Slytheirn common room.

I saw Pansy give me a suspicious glare as I walked past her where she was sat with Millicent, Tracy, Crabbe, Goyle and Draco, but I paid no attention to her as I went up to the dorm to take a long hot shower.

* * *

My head turned as the common room portrait hole opened, a few minutes before curfew was due to set in. I narrowed my eyes when I saw Midnight stride through, bag slung on her back, not a care in the world, completely ignorant. I saw her glance to me as she passed, so I gave her my best glare that makes Tracy and even Millicent shiver, but she didn't do anything, just carried on up the girls dorm stairs and out of sight.

"Where does she go every night?" I asked Draco confidently, trying to hide my curiosity. I don't want to look like I'm desperate to know or anything. To my disappointment he only shrugged.

"How should I know?" Our group was looking at us both now, and then to the stairs where Midnight had disappeared.

"She goes on morning's as well," Tracy piped up "I saw her the other day getting up really early. Like, dawn, or something."

"Didn't she stay with you over summer, Draco?" I asked, trying not to grit my teeth. _It's not fair_. That ugly, stupid, stuck-up brat isn't worthy of living with Draco. She should just go rot with the filthy muggles back where she came from. He nodded casually in answer to my question.

"Yeah, my father told me he knew her father," he said.

"Well surely you spent time together," Tracy piped up again, making me really have to try not to grind my teeth. The thought of _her_ spending time with _my_ Dracy-poo makes me want to be sick.

"Not really," he answered "she has a private tutor. Someone her mother sent over from America. She was with him in a separate part of the manor all day every day. We hardly ever saw each other," A private tutor? From America? I'd love it if the whole school got to know how stupid she was that she had to have extra tuition.

"What in?" I asked.

"Huh?"

"What did the tutor teach?"

"Oh, I never bothered to ask," he shrugged, although the way he casually dismissed it made me suspicious. If she's threatened my Dracy-poo…But, the main mystery still stands – where does she keep going?

"Well, I'm going to find out where she goes every evening," I said determinedly.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Tracy piped up (again). _Why does she never shut up_? I glared at her.

"And why not?" I demanded.

"Well, you've seen her when she's angry. She, well, she can be a bit…"

"Terrifying," Millicent finished. It's quite stupid that a girl of Millicent's size and strength is scared of such a weakling like Midnight.

"Well _I'm_ not scared," I sneered "I'll find out where she's going. Just you wait and see."


	8. The heir of Slytherin?

**I got my exam results back today and I think I might have to do a couple of resits just to bump up my grades a little (I'm still pretty happy with them, I did better than I thought I would) but I think they've stopped doing January resits, so if I do them and they are in June it shouldn't affect this story at all as it will (hopefully) be done by then :)**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter, and as I've spent every minute since I got home from work writing it I'm going to go and pack now! Bye guys! See you in 2 weeks!**

* * *

My ADHD was driving me insane as we walked into the Great Hall for the Halloween feast. I've not done any training this evening, and the lack of something for my twitchiness to focus on is clearly showing. It's likes someone's given me an electric shock that just won't stop.

I sat down next to Draco and Daphne and instantly began tapping my feet on the floor, twiddling my thumbs and brushing back my hair.

"Keep still," Daphne hissed as everyone began to quieten down in preparation for Dumbledore's awaited speech.

"I can't," I hissed back. She rolled her eyes. Gods, it's not like I _want_ to be this hyperactive. Dumbledore stood and the hall went deathly silent as everyone listened closely. I tried my best to stop my feet tapping and try to stay at least slightly still, choosing to attempt to focus on what Dumbledore was saying rather than how much I _needed_ to fidget.

"…an excellent term…" my eyes darted around at the other tables as I tried to watch for anyone doing anything other than listen to Dumbledore "…reminder to all students that there is no magic in the corridors…" someone on Gryffindor is looking around, I think it's Ron "…and those caught after curfew will be…" Harry's missing I think. I can't see him anywhere. "…this magnificent feast that sits before us…" he's gone back to looking at Dumbledore – I think Neville (sat next to him) poked him or something "…enjoy." Dumbledore smiled, as I realised his speech had already finished, the hall suddenly bursting to life as everyone tucked into the food in front of us that was blossoming on the tables.

I let my feet return to tapping as I helped myself to some dinner and pumpkin juice, the conversation flowing across Slytherin table, the main topic being the upcoming Quidditch match against Gryffindor next Saturday, and how we were going to beat the daylights out of them.

Time passed quickly, although I noticed how Pansy was always glancing towards me and Draco, especially when we laughed about something, or chatted particularly loudly. Sometimes I did a little bit of it on purpose, just to frustrate her. Hey, I'm the daughter of Nemesis – I can be as annoying as I want, especially as I've not done anything remotely revenge-like since I got back to Hogwarts. It's literally been training, class, training, class, training, class. Either I just haven't had the time, or what Nemesis said to me about balance is subconsciously restraining me.

We had nearly finished dessert when I heard it. Over all the noise, and all the chatter, the voice was talking again. Louder this time. Closer.

"_Blood_," I looked up slightly, turning my head.

"What are you looking at?" Daphne asked me in between spoons of dessert.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing." I answered dismissively, trying to focus on the voice. I looked back to my dessert and pretended to mess with the food on my plate whilst still listening over all the noise.

"_I smell blood_," it carried on, the hiss clear in my ears "_Let me rip you_. _Let me kill you_," my body began to stiffen as I listened. What in Merlin's name is going on? "_Kill! Kill! Kill!_" It sounded more and more desperate and yet more and more excited as it went, as if it was gathering more energy, eager and ready to kill whatever it's after. "_It's time_…" the voice faded and the background noise overcame it, filling my ears again.

"Midnight?" Daphne asked me, giving me a light nudge on my shoulder "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just… I just thought I heard something. That was all," I said nervously. I don't know what that thing is, but I know it's dangerous.

"Come on," Daphne said, standing "we're all going now." It was true, everyone, from every house was standing to leave for their common rooms. I stood as well, the dagger in my pocket suddenly feeling very heavy. I'm not too keen on wandering around the castle when that thing is around.

Somehow I found myself near the front of the group of Slytherin students, near Draco, Crabbe and Goyle, Daphne behind me. The corridor ahead is where the Gryffindor and Slytherin students have to kind of cross to get to their correct common rooms – it's also the sight of many a conflict between students because of this.

We approached loudly, or at least the other members of my house did. I stayed nervously quiet. As if by instinct, I knew something was wrong with the corridor we were approaching. I could already see water on the floor, and as we got closer, I knew I was right.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were stood in the corridor, looking up at words drawn in what I already knew was blood on the wall. 'The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir, beware.' We all halted, as did the other group when they arrived. People gasped, and whispered as the trio of Gryffindors looked around themselves in shock. It was then that I saw the cat, dangling from one of the torch holders.

"Enemies of the Heir, beware?" Draco read loudly, before he sharply turned to look at Hermione. "You'll be next, mudbloods," he said sharply. I was too busy staring at the blood on the wall to notice the insult I would normally have corrected him for. It was then that the staff began to arrive, including Filch.

"What's going on here?" he barked "Go on, make way, make way." He came into view and looked at Harry. "Potter. What are you…?" his voice trailed off as his beady eyes moved from Harry to above Harry's head, where his cat was motionless.

"Mrs Norris?" Filch whimpered, then he looked back to Harry "You've murdered my cat," he said slowly, dangerously.

"No, no," Harry protested.

"I'll kill ya." Filch growled, grabbing Harry by the collar "I'll kill ya!"

"Argus!" Dumbledore's voice worked just as well as magic as he made his way through the path of students to get to Filch and Harry, the other Professor's behind him.

"Argus, I…" it was then that Professor Dumbledore saw the words on the wall. He paused for a brief moment before speaking again, his voice full of authority. "Everyone will proceed to their dormitories immediately. Everyone except, you three." He said, gesturing to Harry, Hermione and Ron. I turned along with the other Slytherins and happened to catch Professor Snape's eye as I did so. I quickly pulled away, feeling nervous enough already, and followed my house mates on the alternate route to our common room.

The 'Chamber of Secrets' was all anyone talked about as we entered our common room, the Bloody Baron floating in the corner suddenly very interested in us as we passed on the information. I didn't dare mention the voice again as we all sat down on the sofas, even Pansy and her group too. After a short while I got too bored of sitting down, my senses already on edge, and stood, leaving. No one really questioned it as I made my way away from them and towards the girls' dorm stairs. I paused when I noticed the Blood Baron floating over to me.

"You're wanted outside the room," he huffed quietly. I gave him a small sharp nod, and he floated on by as if he had never said anything at all to me. I glanced to see if the others were looking at me, and saw they were too deeply engrossed in conversation to pay much attention to me. I walked past the girls dorm stairs to a group of older taller Slytherins, walking behind them and past them and transfiguring my form to be taller girl with light brown hair and a chubby face before walking back past them and towards the common room door. At least this way if someone does see me leaving they won't know it's me. As soon as the portrait hole closed behind me I transfigured back to my normal self. Professor Snape was waiting impatiently at the end of the corridor.

"Come with me," he said sternly, and I followed wordlessly, wondering what he wanted. He led me to the Potions classroom, which was quiet and empty. He turned to me sharply, face cold but somehow worried.

"Why would you advertise yourself like that?" he asked, almost like a disappointed parent.

"What?" I frowned.

"Lucius and Narcissa have told me you are now aware of your heritage. I'll ask you again. Why did you do it?" I froze, the dagger in my pocket suddenly seeming like a great idea.

"They told you…?" He seemed to grit his teeth as he rolled up his sleeve and showed me an old faded tattoo on his forearm.

"Only the Dark Lord's most trusted followers were even told of your existence," he said as it dawned on me that Professor Severus Snape was a Death Eater for my father, a follower of Voldemort. "myself, Lucius, Narcissa, and Bellatrix Lestrange – who spent most of her time raising you after your birth. The Dark Lord became very paranoid that should his enemies, primarily a group known as The Order of the Pheonix run by Dumbledore at the time, discover your existence they would kill you. It is one of the reasons you were taken into hiding after his defeat."

"So… you won't tell anyone that I'm his daughter?" I asked.

"It would be unwise to do so at this current time," he said clearly "however you have not helped matters by opening the chamber."

"What do you mean?" I said, frowning "I haven't opened anything."

"Only the Heir of Slytherin can open the chamber, and even I don't know where it is, or how you would do so."

"But I'm not-"

"The Dark Lord was the only living heir of Slytherin until your birth. As he is now defeated, you are the only heir."

"I-I'm the heir of Slytherin?" I said, raising an eyebrow, and then frowned. "But I didn't open the chamber. Tonight was the first I've heard of it." Now it was Professor Snape's turn to look confused as he pulled down his sleeve and watched me closely.

"I swear, I didn't do anything. Trust me, I don't want anyone to know I'm his daughter either." I said seriously "I think everyone would want to kill me, not just this Order group. I'm not a fan of being killed." I paused "I did hear something though."

"What?"

"A voice. I heard it at the start of the term, and then again tonight at the end of the feast. It wanted to kill."

"The monster that lives in the chamber is something only the heir of Slytherin can control. That will be why you heard it. It must have been loose in the castle."  
"But if that's right then who opened the chamber and let it out?" I frowned, and he frowned back.

"I don't know, but if I were you I'd stay away and do your best to remain inconspicuous until I find out who's opening the chamber."

"Or I could act like myself," I suggested "You have no idea how quickly Daphne Greengrass picks up on when I'm not acting the way I normally do."

"Just don't get caught. I don't want to have to be involved when something goes wrong."

"It won't go wrong. Trust me."


	9. The Chamber of Secrets

**Hiiii! I'm back! I had an awesome time and managed to get a couple of chapters written too :) I'm going back to school on Tuesday (which is also when the next update should be), so, yeah. That sucks. But anyway! Updates! Nothing too exciting just yet, but I have big things in store for the future ) Keep reading, feel free to leave a comment and I'll see you all soon. Enjoy!**

* * *

After speaking with Professor Snape a few days ago, I had decided that whoever was impersonating me had to be revealed, and I had to find out where the Chamber is. If the monster is only supposed to obey me, then I should be able to stop it from doing anything that might jeopardise my position.

I tried looking up the Chamber in the library, along with most of Ravenclaw house and Hermione, but (like all of them) found nothing on it. It seems to be a very hushed subject, so I wasn't surprised that Hermione asked about it in our next Transfiguration lesson.

"Today we will be transforming animals into water goblets," Professor McGonagall said, beginning the lesson. "Like so," she turned to a large toucan-like bird sat on a pedestal. "One, two, three _Vera Verto_." The bird's shape distorted, colours spinning before it formed a large glass goblet. "Now it's your turn", she had said, turning to us. "Who would like to go first?" I sat up, intrigued. I've always enjoyed transfiguration – it's one of the only lessons I excel in. "Ah, Mr Weasley," she said, turning to Ron. He cleared his throat and pulled out his wand which had been crudely cello taped back together after his encounter with the Whomping Willow at the start of the year.

"_Vera Verto_," he said clearly, and his rat transformed into a furry goblet with a tail that squeaked in distress. The class laughed as McGonagall sighed.

"That wand needs replacing, Mr Weasley." Yeah, no kidding. That was when Hermione put her hand up.

"Yes, miss Granger?"

"Professor, I was wondering if you could tell us about the Chamber of Secrets," Hermione said nervously. The professor looked across us all at our silent, curious gazes, and sighed.

"Very well," she said reluctantly "You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin." She began to pace slowly across the front of the room, looking from the floor, to her wand, to us and to the floor again. "Now, three of the founders coexisted quite harmoniously. One did not."

"Three guesses who," Ron smirked. McGonagall looked at him, and then continued.

"Salazar Slytherin wanted to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed magical learning should be kept within all magic families. In other words, pure-bloods. Unable to sway the others, he decided to leave the school. Now, according to legend, Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle known as the Chamber of Secrets. Though shortly before departing, he sealed it until that time when his own true Heir returned to the school. The Heir alone would be able to open the chamber and unleash the horror within, and by so doing, purge the school of all those who, in Slytherin's view, were unworthy to study magic."

"Muggle-borns," Hermione said quietly, and McGonagall nodded.

"Naturally the school has been searched many times. No such chamber has been found."

"Professor, what exactly does legend tell us lies within the chamber?" Hermione asked, and again McGonagall paused before speaking reluctantly.

"The chamber is said to be home to something only the Heir of Slytherin can control. It is said to be the home, of a monster." I saw Ron turn to look at Draco, and Draco smirk back at him, raising an eyebrow.

At the end of the lesson, when we were all dismissed, I saw the trio hurry out of the room, huddled together, talking quietly. Draco smirked at Crabbe and Goyle and made a beeline for them as Daphne and I rolled our eyes simultaneously.

They pushed past the trio as Harry stopped walking. Ron seemed to be suggesting something. I gestured silently for Daphne to carry on as I slowed. She nodded obediently and followed Draco. As I neared the trio, I listened to their conversation – I know some people might think eavesdropping is rude, but it really is an amazing way of accumulating information, especially when someone doesn't realise you're doing it, but I do love the look on people's faces when they realise you know what's going on.

"…breaking about fifty school rules," Hermione was saying seriously "and it would be dangerous. Very dangerous."

"What's dangerous?" I asked with a smile, making the three of them jump. I blinked, hiding a laugh. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

"What are you doing?" Ron asked defensively.

"I was going to wish Harry good luck with the Quidditch tournament tomorrow before I heard you talking about something dangerous." I lied smoothly "So, what's dangerous? You're not planning on doing something are you?" They glanced to each other.

"No, of course not." Harry answered, but I could tell he was lying. Even if he wasn't a bad liar I'd be able to tell. I raised an eyebrow.

"Glad to hear it. With the Chamber open and all doing something dangerous sounds pretty stupid, especially with you Hermione."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron said, turning to me with narrowed eyes.

"All I'm saying is Hermione isn't exactly low-key. Everyone knows your name," I said, directing my speech from Ron to her "you're practically the smartest witch in our year. If someone's targeting muggle-borns, you'd probably be high-up on their list. I'd be doing everything possible to avoid getting into a dangerous situation, you know?" Then I smiled "But I guess if you're not doing anything dangerous then there's nothing to worry about. Good luck tomorrow Harry – from the way the whole common room's been talking, it looks like you're going to need it. Ciao."

* * *

"Was it just me or did that sound an awful lot like a threat?" Ron said with a glare in Midnight's direction as she walked off, probably back to the Slytherin common room. I glanced to Hermione, who was looking rather shocked, as if she had realised something she didn't want to realise.

"All right Hermione, what was the plan?" I asked, trying to distract her. She looked to me and nodded.

"Right. The plan. We have to go to the library."

"The library. Of course it's the library." Ron sighed, before we started to follow Hermione. She walked quickly, almost urgently, towards the library. It was mostly members of Ravenclaw house there – still doing everything they could to try and find information on the Chamber of Secrets.

Hermione led us to a smaller section of the library, where most of the potions books are found.

"Wait here while I find it," she said sternly. We paused and waited, glancing to each other while she walked down the shelves, running her fingers along the book bindings as she scanned the titles. While we waited, Ron and I moved to a quieter part of the library, so we wouldn't be overheard. After a few minutes, Hermione hurried over to us again.

"Here it is, the Polyjuice Potion. Properly brewed, the Polyjuice Potion allows the drinker to transform himself temporarily into the physical form of another."

"You mean if Harry and I drink that stuff, we'll turn into Crabbe and Goyle?"

"Yes," Hermione nodded, but a frown was forming on her face as she looked down at the book.

"Wicked! Malfoy will tell us anything,"

"Exactly, but it's tricky, I've never seen a more complicated potion," she said nervously.

"Well, how long will it take to make?" I asked. She looked up at me.

"A month."

"A month?" I gasped in shock "Hermione, if Malfoy is the Heir of Slytherin he could attack half the muggle-borns in the school by then."

"I know," she frowned "but it's the only plan we've got."


	10. The Quidditch Match

I found it surprising that I actually felt conflicted about whether to try to search for the chamber or to go to the Quidditch match – the first match of the year. Usually I would have picked 'search for the chamber' straight away – after all, it's the perfect opportunity to sneak around without anyone noticing me, as everyone will be at the match, students and staff alike. But the match is all Draco's been going on about, as it's his first real game as the Slytherin seeker. Not to mention Pansy and the others are expecting me to be there – if I suddenly disappear, they might suspect something. And with talk about the chamber on the agenda every day, there's always the chance someone will get suspicious. I thought over it for most of the evening, even considering the possibility that someone might have planned the whole stunt in the corridor to draw me out, catch me red-handed as it were, to being the Heir of Slytherin. But, as possible as it was, it seemed rather far-fetched. Petrifying Mrs Norris? Writing words in blood? And the voice was no trick. That was real.

That was when I thought it might be easier to find the chamber if the voice started talking again. Then, I could follow it back, and find out who released it, and where it lives – and by doing so, find the entrance to the chamber. The only problem with that is that the person who opened the chamber will most likely also be at the match. McGonagall said it herself – the school has been searched many times. Without the voice, my chances of finding the chamber are slim.

And so I found myself sitting uncomfortably amongst the rest of Slytherin house as they screamed and cheered around me for our victory. By the first goal (10 – 00 to Slytherin, as announced by Lee Jordan from the teacher's stand) I was regretting my decision, wishing I had risked being noticed as missing from the crowd. I was deafened from every angle, anger slowly building. I tried to focus on the brooms racing by, the quaffle whizzing from player to player, bludgers aiming for heads of both sides alike, and the elusive snitch, seemingly invisible amidst all the chaos. Instead, I found myself only getting more and more irritated as heads disrupted my field of vision, shoulders crammed against my own.

I began to feel like a trapped animal in a cage about to snap when I felt a sharp shove on my back. I span my head around with a glare to see Pansy smirking as she squeezed past to join Millicent and Tracy further along. I had a feeling she had moved deliberately to come back to shove me. One more time and that's it… I'm giving her as many chances as possible, I'm not being unreasonable, but she's going to get what's coming to her…

I turned back around, with a glare still etched onto my face and continued trying to watch the players. Slytherin was doing well, using cheap dirty tactics and the occasional move which I assume to be cheating, such as one player slamming into the Gryffindor keeper while the other scored the goal. Still, we were winning. 20 – 00, 30 – 00, 40 – 00, then one score for Gryffindor, and another, before we took it back. As Lee Jordan's voice echoed the fast-changing score amongst the crowd, the Slytherin students around me seemed to get more and more excited, more wild. Flags were waving, hands thundering in a wave of applause as the score reached 90 – 30 for Slytherin.

I focused on Draco and Harry in particular, and watched as Draco paused behind him, hovering a few more feet in the air than Harry. I couldn't see what was happening – they were too far away – but I assumed Draco was insulting him in some way or another – he usually is. Harry ducked to avoid a bludger – a standard routine in this game it seems. Only then it did a u-turn, knocking another Gryffindor player off his broom and sending him spiralling to the ground in the process. Harry ducked again, only for it to come back around for him. I frowned as he dove, attempting to out-fly it. It stayed on his tail, barely a meter away from the end of his broom at any one time. I don't know much about this game, but I do know bludgers aren't supposed to do that. Someone must have tampered with it.

Both Harry and the bludger raced by, Harry manoeuvring skilfully around the tall teacher's stands, the bludger slamming right through them, leaving a wreckage of wood and fabric in its wake. I was surprised Dumbledore or one of the other professors didn't do anything about it – if Dumbledore's the great wizard everyone says he is (well, everyone who's not in Slytherin anyway) shouldn't he be able to stop a tampered bludger?

Harry did a quick dodge-dive that sent the bludger careering past him into a Ravenclaw stand and off the pitch. He flew carefully back up, and Draco joined him, probably to insult him some more. This time they were close enough to us to see, only it wasn't what our house wanted to see at all. The snitch was hovering barely inches away from Draco's left ear, and he hadn't noticed it, too busy boasting or insulting or whatever it was he was doing, and Harry knew it.

Collectively we groaned a groan of utter frustration as the bludger came back onto the pitch, again aiming for Harry, and he swiftly flew after the snitch. Draco, quickly realising his stupidity, raced after him around the outside of the pitch, slamming into him and taking the lead before the dove out of sight under the stands.

The Slytherin house seemed united at that moment for a few brief seconds as every eye in our stand scanned the ground, waiting for them to reappear, preferably with Draco holding the snitch, although I doubted it highly. They resurfaced for a brief moment, neck and neck, the bludger dangerously close to them, as a young Gryffindor on the pitch took a photograph of them, ducking a second later to avoid the rogue ball. They dove again, and again went out of sight.

A few seconds later, they resurfaced again, only Draco was off of his broom, flying through the air and careering onto the ground, bouncing and flipping a few times before finally landing painfully. Pansy, a few people down, was instantly on her feet and panicking to those around her. I rolled my eyes – he'd live. Harry, on the other hand, I wasn't so sure about.

He was inches away from the snitch, stretching his arm out as far as he could, when the bludger came and slammed into him. His broom span for a moment as he clutched his arm close to his chest, and yet he still stayed on the snitch's tail, moving to hold out his other arm. Unbalanced and wobbly, he span upside down and landed harshly on the sand of the pitch, but not before he caught the snitch.

"Harry Potter has caught the snitch!" Lee Jordan announced gleefully "Gryffindor wins!" I was already on my feet, along with a few other curious Slytherins, including Pansy (who was probably going to Draco rather than Harry) hurrying down to the pitch to see what damage had been done.

I reached the bottom of the stairs of our stand just in time to see the bludger flying directly at Harry as he rolled trying to escape it. It slammed into the sand and rose up again in what would be a clear head-shot when it exploded into ashes. Harry sat up as we all approached, Hermione, Ron and Hagrid included. Hermione had her wand out, and was most likely the cause of the bludger's end.

"Thank you," Harry said to her wincing.

"Are you ok?"  
"No, I think my arm's broken," he said with a hiss of pain. Professor Lockhart hurried over and knelt by him.

"Not to worry Harry, I will fix that arm of yours straightaway." He announced.

"No," Harry said, suddenly looking very worried "Not you."

"Poor boy, he doesn't know what he's saying," Lockhart said, ignoring him and rolling up his sleeve to reveal the arm beneath. Well, this is going to go _great_. Harry will be in the hospital wing for a month after this idiot's done with him.

"Wouldn't it be better taking him to Madam Pomfrey?" I suggested, and Harry quickly nodded, but Lockhart ignored the both of us.

"Now this won't hurt a bit," he said as Harry winced. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the broken arm.

"_Brackium emendo_!" he said clearly, and a low, soft blue light pulsed at the tip of his wand. He put his wand down confidently with a smile on his face and picked up the arm, only for it to squelch and flop in his hand. The people around me grimaced and moaned in disgust.

"Ah, yes, well that can sometimes happen, but the point is," he said, and bent Harry's wrist backwards so the back of his fingers were touching his forearm "you can no longer feel any pain, and the bones are clearly not broken."

"Broken?!" "Hagrid said angrily "There are no bones left!" Harry's wrist sprang back into place as he stared at it, eyes wide. Lockhart tried to smile, but didn't quite manage it.

"Much more flexible though," he muttered.


	11. Imposter

Malfoy had been dismissed from the hospital wing almost as soon as he got there, but continued to groan and moan in the common room as he lay on one of the sofas, Pansy fretting over him, constantly keeping a damp cloth on his head and trying to play mother hen. The captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team was furious with him for losing the snitch. _Everyone_ had seen it hovering right next to him. He could have ended the game right there and then and won the match for Slytherin. But he hadn't. I heard as I passed that they were considering kicking him off the team. I know Draco would be mortified if they did.

I was sat away from them – Pansy, Draco and the others, I mean. My tapping and fidgeting was getting on Daphne's nerves again, so I moved myself away from them, sitting alone to tap my feet and drum my fingers on my lap and ruffle my hair to my heart's content. Daphne and Pansy seem to have been keeping a close eye on me as of late, and with us all in the common room after the match I couldn't sneak away to train in the Room of Requirement. I hate having nothing to do here. Chara's still out from last night, Βοήθεια's asleep upstairs in the dorm, all my homework is done. I could go and re-read my book of names, I suppose, but I don't really want to be caught reading it, or even owning it – if Daphne and Pansy are suspicious something's going on already, adding that to the mix surely wouldn't be a good idea.

When you get used to a person you notice less and less about them, and to accurately know someone's worst fear, you need to notice every tiny detail possible. Keeping a record of my initial impressions of them is good for later reference, I find, especially when if it comes to a situation where I need to know someone's fear when they're not stood in front of me.

Still, I haven't met anyone new recently, have no revenge actions plotted against anyone (yet, although Pansy's coming pretty close) and have no real reason to dig it up out of my case except for I'm bored. I don't like being bored – it makes me start to think about things, a dangerous habit that can quickly draw me into the foulest of moods.

My unspent energy kept me awake late into the night, even after everyone else had gone to bed, leaving the common room with only a few insomniacs and myself, and even they turned in before long, to at least try to slip into their own little worlds of slumber. But me, I knew it would be useless trying. I'd walk up the stairs, get changed, get into the bed under the covers and then I'd fidget like there was no tomorrow. I'd toss and turn, puff and re-puff my pillow, lie staring at the ceiling in the dark until it drove me mad, and still I wouldn't sleep. I'd more likely than not wake up the others in the process as well, and then they'd be angry with me – I'd rather not have that hassle.

"_Kill_," my head darted up at the sound of the voice before I leapt to my feet. I was out of the common room in two seconds flat. "_Kill_," the voice repeated as I rounded a corner in the corridor, it's tone seemingly getting more and more eager, as if it had already zoned in on a target. "_Kill! Kill!_" I was getting closer, the voice louder, an almost rumbling noise accompanying it. "_Time to kill_," the voice faded, but it had been going for long enough. I was following the rumble, the heavy breathing. I was right on top of it, and yet it was nowhere to be seen.

The voice didn't say anything more, making me think the attack had already been done. My body seemed to be on sharp alert for anyone approaching: monster, student, teacher or the impostor themselves. Then the breathing grew fainter, the rumbling dying away. My heart pounded harder in my chest as I worried I had lost it when I came to a door on the second floor. I glanced to it, and something almost seemed to want to pull me in towards it. And then there was whispering, a strangely familiar whispering. I frowned, furrowing my eyebrows as I pressed my ear to the door. _Where have I heard that whispering before_?

I pulled away slightly, and then backed away to hide just around the corner. A moment later the door opened and someone slipped out, walking quickly away from both the room and me. I waited for a second until they rounded the corner, and the silently hurried after them, the whispering loud and clear in my ears, ready to guide me if I temporarily lost sight of them. After a short while of walking, the path seemed to gather familiarity in my mind – I knew where the culprit was headed, but I couldn't quite believe it.

I stopped at the corner of the corridor that lead to the moving staircases and leant around slightly, watching as the person who had been releasing the monster from the Chamber of Secrets opened the portrait to the Gryffindor common room, her ginger hair swaying behind her as she disappeared from view.

By morning, after laying awake all night facing the wall, I finally recognised them. I couldn't believe it though. Even it just being a Gryffindor was astonishing, but _her_: simple, innocent, Ginny _Weasley_? A _Weasley_?

* * *

"You alright, Midnight?" Daphne asked me that morning.

"Never better," I answered, not looking at her, my tone serious and thoughtful as I sat on one of the chairs in the common room, brooding over what I should do next. Confront her? Threaten her? Use her? Each of which held its own risks. Or do nothing, and leave her be? Again, risky. How many people would be petrified? How many killed? Whose blood would I have on my hands?

Someone poked me, and I slapped their hand away without thinking, or even looking at them.

"Ow," Daphne frowned "Are you coming to breakfast or not?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. Sure." I muttered, standing. She gave me a curious glance before rolling her eyes at me and walking to join Draco and the others to head to the Great Hall for breakfast. I followed, still deep in thought, as we left together. What to do. What to do.

The Great Hall was fairly full as we walked in, breakfast already seemingly in full swing. I sat down in between Daphne and Millicent and studied the people on Gryffindor table. _There_. Sat with some other first years. Smiling, and laughing as she ate, although her face looking slightly pale. Daphne nudged me.

"Hey, someone said a Gryffindor was petrified last night," she said to me. I looked to her.

"Really? Who?"

"I don't know." She paused "You wouldn't know anything about it, would you?"

"Don't be stupid," I said scornfully "I wouldn't be asking you who it was if I already knew, would I?" She watched me, seemingly contemplating this, and then shrugged, and went back to eating. I turned back to watching Ginny Weasley, and then began to eat breakfast, keeping an eye on her as I did so. Why is a Gryffindor attacking other Gryffindors? It just doesn't make any sense. I thought the Weasley family liked muggles, especially their father from the way Lucius Malfoy talked about him. What's really going on? What am I missing?

I wasn't really hungry much after that, the secret she was hiding weighing on my shoulders, a puzzle that I needed to solve. When I spotted Harry and Ron getting up from their table. I couldn't see Hermione.

"I'll catch up with you later," I muttered to Daphne, and she nodded grudgingly. I sensed the others on my table watching me as I stood and walked out of the Great Hall after the duo, not hurrying exactly, but with a sense of urgency in my step.

"Hey! Hey Harry, wait up!" I called, and they turned to me.

"Hi Midnight? You ok?" He said, sounding as if I had interrupted an important conversation.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Someone at the table just mentioned there was another attack last night. Are you all ok?" I asked.

"Yeah, we're fine. Why?" He frowned.

"Well, Hermione's not with you…" I said, leaving the sentence to trail off.

"Oh! No, she's in the library. She's fine."

"Good, good," I said, "Do you know who it was?"

"Colin Creevy, a first year." He said, and at my lack of reaction, he continued "The little blonde with the camera."

"Oh!" I said, recognising the description of the small boy I'd occasionally seen harassing Harry, and running around the school constantly taking photographs. "Oh, right. That's a shame." I said, and they nodded, although Ron was watching me suspiciously.

"Harry, we have to go," Ron said, nudging him, his tone rising on the word 'go', as if he knew exactly where they had to go but wouldn't say it in front of me. More secrets, eh? Harry looked to him and nodded.

"Yeah. Sorry, Midnight."

"Can't I tag along?" I asked. He glanced to Ron.

"Um, not really. It's Gryffindor stuff. Quidditch stuff. Yeah, Wood's been clear about no one from any of the other houses being allowed."

"Oh," I said, feigning disappointment. I knew he was lying. "Well, maybe later then."

"Yeah, definitely. We'll see you later." He nodded, and Ron pulled him off hurriedly. I frowned and narrowed my eyes as soon as they were out of sight. What are they up to?

Outside, it began to snow.


	12. The Duelling Club

I was sat in the library doing homework when Daphne entered, hurrying over to me and practically pulling me out of my seat.

"What?" I scowled, the librarian looking at us with narrowed eyes, 'shhh' at the ready.

"Haven't you seen the poster on the notice board? Professor Lockhart's started a duelling club! We're going to be late, come on!" She said excitedly. I groaned.

"Silence in the library!" The librarian shrieked, making Daphne roll her eyes.

"Come on!" She whispered "We're going!"

"I don't want to, he's a useless idiot," I muttered, but I still found myself putting my books back in my bag just the same.

"Yeah, but he's _gorgeous_. Come on! It's going to be great!"

"I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying, now shut up before the librarian has a heart attack." I glowered. Daphne waited impatiently as I stood and then grabbed my arm and practically dragged me out of the library, the librarian's glare burning into our backs as we left.

"Pansy and the others have already gone down to the room," she said breathlessly "we'll be late if we don't hurry."

"You could have just left me to study," I frowned "I'm not that bothered about whatever stupid plan Lockhart has up his sleeve."

"Just shush and come on," she was practically running through the corridors now, forcing me to follow her. We hurried into the crowded room as Daphne began to push her way to the front, still holding my sleeve to drag me with her. Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, Millicent and Tracy were already there.

"You took your time," Draco commented with a sneer. Neither of us replied to him.

"Has it started?" Daphne panted.

"Not yet, but it's about to, I think." Tracy answered her. As if on cue, the door was grandly thrown open and Gilderoy Lockhart strolled in, a proud grin on his face – although what he has to be proud of I can't say. I don't want to be here. I have more important things to be doing. Like figured out what to do about Ginny Weasley. It's been nearly two weeks and I still don't know what to do about her. What troubles me most is that no one but the heir is supposed to be able to open the Chamber, and yet somehow she's managed it. When no one else, not even Dumbledore himself, could even _find_ it. It's keeping me awake at night I think about it so much. All I do pretty much every minute of every day is think about it. Even training in the Room of Requirement doesn't help. If I confront her she might use the monster against me, if I threaten her, she might target me or claim I've been the one opening the Chamber to throw anyone else off the scent. I can't tell a teacher. Maybe professor Snape, but then it's out of my hands. I can't control it anymore. And how would Snape be able to stop it? Would he tell Dumbledore? It seems like a pointless move, like I'm showing I'm weak because I can't handle one silly (but potentially dangerous) little girl. So far no one else has been petrified, but that only makes it more likely that the time for the next one is coming up. I have to make my decision.

"Gather round! Gather round!" Lockhart declared, standing on top of a long stage that occupied the middle of the room, decorated with a blue background and white and silver stars, like a magician – not a wizard, a magician. "Can everybody see me? Can you all hear me?" He said, his voice clear, but full of misplaced confidence. I rolled my eyes and scowled. As the excited voices that had filled the room dimmed to a respectful, yet anticipating silence. He grinned at us all and the girls around me melted, their expressions glazed and idiotic. How can people be so _dumb_?

"Excellent," he grinned, and then frowned, although there was still cheer, an excited gleam in his eyes. "In light of the dark events of recent weeks Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little Duelling club, to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves, as I myself have done on countless occasions. For full details, see my published works." I rolled my eyes, but no one else seemed to notice his ego, which was ridiculous as it stretched over a mile long, probably lots more. He took off his cape and threw it to the crowd where a group of excited girls squealed when they caught it.

"Let me introduce my assistant," he continued grandly "Professor Snape." Oh Lockhart is gonna get his butt _kicked_. Everyone peered towards the opposite end of the stage where Snape was slowly walking out of the crowd and up the steps, face blank – he probably doesn't want to be here either, or maybe he does, just so he can pummel Lockhart to the ground and show him up to be the fraud he is.

"He has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration. Now I don't want any of your youngsters to worry; you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear," Yeah, but will we still have a defence against the dark arts professor? Lockhart finally stopped smiling, and turned to face Snape. They walked towards each other slowly, wands at their sides. They raised their wands to their faces, and then back to their sides, bowed slightly, turned, and walked the other way to their own ends of the stage, before turning back to each other.

"One." Lockhart said, wand raised "Two. Three."

"_Expelliarmus_!" Snape said immediately, and a jet of light shot towards Lockhart, propelling him off of his feet as he squealed in surprise. My bored scowl suddenly turned to a massive entertained grin.

"Wow, Daphne, you were right. This _is _great." She scowled at me, leaning over to see if Lockhart was alright, but already he was getting back on his feet.

"An excellent idea to show them that Professor Snape, but if you don't mind me saying it was pretty obvious what you were about to do, and if I had wanted to stop you, it would have been only too easy." Yeah, right. When pigs fly. No, I shouldn't say that – for all I know there really _is_ a magical pig-like creature that can fly. Weirder things have happened.

"Perhaps it would be prudent to first teach the students how to block unfriendly spells, Professor." Snape said, a tiny smile of satisfaction on his face as Lockhart's own smile dropped momentarily as he glanced around him. But after a split second, it was back again.

"An excellent suggestion Professor Snape!" Lockhart announced "Um, let's have a volunteer pair. Ah, Potter, Weasley, how about you?"

"Weasley's wand causes devastation with even the simplest spells. He'll be sending Potter to the hospital wing in a matchbox." Harry was already getting up on the end of the stage as Snape continued "Might I suggest someone from my own house. Malfoy, perhaps?" The eyes around us turned to Malfoy as he began to move to our end of the stage.

"Kick his butt, Drac-y," Pansy swooned "Show him who's boss." Draco smirked as he sauntered towards the middle of the stage, Harry walking to join him.

"Wands at the ready," Lockhart instructed. They held their wands to their faces, and in the silence we heard exactly what they said to each other.

"Scared, Potter?"

"You wish." Harry answered, making me smirk. Their wands went to their sides and they turned, mirroring what Professor Snape and Lockhart had done moments earlier. When they were at their own ends of the stage, they turned to look at each other and pointed their wands.

"On the count of three," Lockhart said clearly, his voice ringing across the room. "cast your charms to disarm your opponent. Only to disarm. We don't want any accidents here." Aw, but the accidents are the fun part. "One. Two."

"_EverteStatum_!" Draco yelled, before the count, and a jet of purply red light shot from his wand and slammed into Harry, sending him flying backwards to land heavily on the end of the stage. I didn't know whether to wince or grin, so the expression on my face must have been almost comical. Harry stood back up, a moment of rage on his face, and pointed his wand at Draco. Um, Draco, what are you doing standing there? Aren't you going to block it rather than just stare at it?

"_Rictusempra_!" Harry yelled, and, obviously because Draco didn't _blockit_, it hit him straight in the chest, lifting Draco off of his feet and spiralling to land on his backside in front of Snape, who yanked him back up and pushed him back into the duel.

"I said disarm only!" Lockhart said strongly, but I think everyone knew the two boys weren't going to stop.

"_Serpensortia!_" Draco yelled, and a snake was propelled into the middle of the stage, facing Harry. Oh come on Draco, a snake? Really? What's a snake going to do? The poor thing's just confused and isn't going to hurt anyone – not unless I tell it to anyway. And I can't do that – there's too many people watching, listening. Snape glanced to me subtly, and then stepped forwards, walking to it.

"Don't move, Potter. I'll get rid of it for you."

"Allow me, Professor Snape," Lockhart declared, making Snape stop in his tracks. "_AlarteAscendare_!" A jet of white light shot from his wand, and instead of vanishing, or dying, the snake just flew up in the air, hissed in anger, and then landed with a 'plop' back into the stage, bigger, and angrier. Harry stepped forwards, and a hissing sound I recognised started to come from his mouth.

"_Stay where you are_," Harry said, only I, along with nearly everyone in the room, froze. Harry's speaking in snake. Why is he speaking in snake language? Only I can do that. Or, at least I thought I was the only one who could do that. The snake looked to a boy at the side of the stage, a Gryffindor.

"_Don't attack him_," Harry said clearly, but the snake was adamant to disobey. "_Don't attack."_ Harry said again, more clearly, demanding obedience, and the snake turned to him again.

"_ViperaEvanesca_," Snape said, pointing his wand at the snake and snapping us all out of the trance the snake language seemed to have put us under as a spark seemed to ignite on the snake's tail and burned it up in a quick flash of flames.

"What are you playing at?" the boy who the snake had been preparing to attack said angrily. Harry looked at him in confusion, and then realised everyone was staring at him.

"I think that's enough for today. Everyone dismissed." Lockhart said clearly, although the 'charm' from his voice was gone, replaced by a serious, grave, almost worried tone. Snape said nothing, and neither did any of us as Harry got down from the stage, and Ron and Hermione quickly pulled him away out of the room.

"Potter's a parseltongue?" Someone asked, but in the silence it sounded like they were yelling.

"Wasn't Salazar Slytherin a parselmouth?" Someone else asked cautiously.

"Does that mean he's the one opening the chamber?" Someone else said in a trembling voice, looking around them to see if anyone had an answer, and everyone in the room seemed to recoil slightly as people began to whisper among themselves.

"Alright everyone, I think that'll be enough for today. We'll, er, we'll try again next week." Lockhart said, trying to be assertive and failing, the worried waver in his voice clear.

People began to shuffle away, nervously glancing at each other. Daphne and I looked at each other as Draco got off the stage.

"Come on, let's go back to the common room," she suggested nervously.

"Yeah," I nodded, "let's go. There's no point in standing around here." Draco led the way, Pansy fussing over him once more as we left.

"Potter _can't_ be the heir of Slytherin. He's too much of a mud-blood lover," Draco sneered, but there was a slightly worried look on his face below the egotistical, confident remarks.

"Draco's right," I said, resisting the urge to add 'for once' onto the end "It might be a bit more of a convincing concept if Harry was in Slytherin, but he's not. I doubt the heir of Salazar Slytherin is going to be in his arch-rivals house." Pansy sneered at my comment, but the others were nodded, agreeing with me.

"He did live a thousand years ago," Tracy said, speculating, more to herself than any of us. "It might be possible. What if the whole goody-two-shoes Gryffindor thing is just an act? I mean, who else in the school is a parselmouth?"

"No, something like that means he'd have to be sly and cunning – a requirement to be put in Slytherin house. Not Gryffindor." Daphne said with a shake of her head.

"Maybe he tricked the hat?" Millicent suggested dumbly.

"No one '_tricks_' the hat, Millicent." I scoffed, and then shook my head. "No. Even if he is a parselmouth, Harry can't be the heir."  
"How do you know?" Pansy glared.

"I agree with Midnight," Daphne said before I could respond "Potter's too _nice_ to the muggle-borns. But if _I _were the heir, I wouldn't complain if everyone starts _thinking_ it's him."

"She's got a point." Tracy agreed.

"Well then let's make it easier for them," Draco snickered "I plan on spreading as many rumours as possible. Anyone else going to join me?"

"I will Draco," Pansy said immediately. I rolled my eyes. Something tells me if Harry wasn't going to have a hard enough time with the whole school (or what will be the whole school by morning) thinking he's the heir of Slytherin, these next few weeks are going to be _hell_.


	13. Another Attack

**Hi guys! I'm sorry there wasn't an update yesterday but I was super busy doing the worst homework of my life. I'm not even kidding it took ****_forever_**** to do - I was still up at eleven in the evening last ngiht finishing it and I started it on Saturday. But, it's done now! And I hope you guys can forgive me, especially if I tell you that the christmas chapter or the polyjuice potion chapter (whicever it ends up being called) will be the chapter after the next one. Oooh, exciting! I have some ideas that I'm going to play around with a bit and see which one works best but hopefully it will be good either way!**

**Anyway, thanks as always for reading, you guys are awesome! Remember to leave a comment telling me what you think or PM me if you ever have any questions. Enjoy!**

I was sat in between Daphne and Tracy at the study session. Originally I had been sat on my own, and then Pansy and come in followed by a small group of people, mainly people who thought they were her friends that she was really exploiting. They didn't sit too close to me, but not far enough away for them to not hear me if I said anything. Then Daphne and Tracy came in, Daphne sitting on my one side and Tracy sitting on the other so she could be sat in between me and Millicent. I tried to get on with my work as best as I could, but it was kind of distracting when everyone around you was constantly staring, or turning around to stare at the table behind us – the only pretty-much empty table in the room. Harry's table. There's only him, Hermione, Ron, and (a little further down) Ginny Weasley sat on it. And that's it. It's been over a month since I found out about Ginny and I still haven't done anything, purely because there didn't seem to be any point to it. The chamber hasn't been opened again, or if it has no one's been petrified. I know it's a long shot, but I'm hoping it stays that way. I'm not looking forward to the confrontation I'll have with her if things start going south.

Everyone suddenly looked back to our table, and I realised Harry had looked at them. I glanced over my shoulder and saw him stand.

"I'll see you back in the common room," he said, talking to Hermione and Ron, but it was so silent that everyone heard him. He started walking out, his book under his arm, and every head in the room turned to watch him as he did. I shook my head and got back to work. I had only written another sentence when I heard it.

"_I want blood_…" the voice said hungrily. I couldn't help the way I froze in my seat. It had come out of nowhere, and Ginny's sat right over there. Daphne nudged me, and I glanced to he, my freeze breaking. 'You ok?' she mouthed silently, and I nodded, quickly putting my head back down, but I wasn't ok. I felt quite sick. And worried for whoever the monster was targeting. And angry. Most of all angry. She's using _my_ monster. How dare she. I'm the heir of Slytherin. It's _my_ job to scare people, _my_ job to keep the balance straight. This can not be balanced.

"_They all must die…_" It sounded like it was coming from the very walls, sending a chill down my spine. Scaring people is one thing. But it's time I woke up. This thing is going to kill people. I don't want anyone to die. There's no need for anyone to die because of me. I glanced across my shoulder to where Ginny Weasley was silently working away, completely absorbed in her studies. She looks a little pale, but nothing more.

"_Kill_…" the voice said, gathering its excitement. It's seen someone.

"I think I'm going to head back to the common room now," I whispered to Daphne.

"Something wrong?"

"Just a bit of a headache. I'll catch up with you later."

"Oh. Ok." She said, sounding doubtful. I stood, putting my books in my bag quickly, and walked out, trying not to hurry, but the voice was getting faster.

"_Kill_…_Kill!_" There was a slight pause "_Time to kill…_" I hurried along the corridor, rounding the corner, and stopped dead in my tracks. Floating above the ground was the unmoving ghost of Sir Nicholas, and just a little further along, Harry, kneeling over a petrified boy. He turned his head quickly and saw me.

"Midnight! I, I didn't do it! I swear!"

"I know," I nodded after a second, moving closer to join him "I know you didn't."

"You do?" he asked, and then looked slightly relieved.

"Caught in the act." A new voice said from behind the two of us, and we frowned as we both turned to see Filch standing in the corridor. "I'll have you out this time Potter. Mark my words."  
"No, Mr Filch, you don't understand-"

"Harry tried to protest but Filch was already gone. I sighed.

"Well, this is going to be fun," I muttered sarcastically, holding out a hand to help him up.

"Yeah," he agreed morosely "I can't believe everyone thinks its me that's doing this."

"Well, not everyone. I don't. I'm sure Ron and Hermione don't too."

"Fine; most people think it's me." He looked down, and then his expression turned thoughtful.

"What?" I asked. He pointed to the ground, and I looked to where he was pointing. A long line of spiders was hurrying away from the scene, up the wall and out through a crack between the window and the bricks.

"That's odd," he muttered.

"People being petrified in the corridors is odd," I pointed out. He said nothing, but there wasn't much time to talk anyway as McGonagall rounded the corner.

"Oh my goodness," she said, apparently shocked as she looked from the two petrified individuals to us.

"Professor, I swear, it wasn't us," Harry protested.

"This is out of my hands, Potter," she said, sounding almost apologetic. McGonagall walked us through the empty corridors in silence. Harry and I glanced to each other as she stopped in front of a large gargoyle in a archway that deepened into the wall.

"Professor Dumbledore will be waiting for you," she told us, and then gestured for us to stand beneath the gargoyle. We did, and she looked at us both.

"Sherbet Lemon." The words confused me for a second, before the gargoyle started to move, a staircase forming, and I realised it was a password. We stood on the steps, and were slowly brought up to a wooden door which was wide open. Glancing to each other again, we entered Dumbledore's office, closing the door behind us.

The headmaster's office had portraits of whom I presumed were previous headmasters fixed onto the wall, some already sleeping. Row after row of bookshelves and glass cabinets lined the walls, filled completely with old books and a variety of knick-knacks all of sizes. A staircase curled to a second floor, but at the centre of the room was Dumbledore's desk. A perch stood next to it, with a large bird sat quite comfortably. The bird didn't look all that healthy though.

While I wandered to the right to look at the bird, Harry seemed to spot something, and moved off slowly to the left.

"Bee in your bonnet, Potter?" A familiar voice asked. I turned to see the sorting hat sat on top of one of the book shelves, Harry looking up at it. He glanced to me, and then back to the hat.

"I was just wondering whether you put me in the right house," he said, slightly uncomfortably. I have no doubts he didn't want me to be there listening as he voiced his concerns, so I tried to at least pretend I was minding my own business.

"Yes, you were particularly difficult to place," the hat said to him "but I stand by what I said last year: you would have done well in Slytherin."

"You're wrong," Harry answered it gravely, and the hat said nothing more. Harry joined me then to look at the bird, which was regarding us both with mild curiosity. Most of its fathers had moulted, it looked quite skinny although I was sure Dumbledore would have fed it well. After a glance at us both, it rose its head, and burst into flames.

We jumped back as the bird burned to ashes in front of our eyes.

"Harry, Midnight." We looked up to Dumbledore's voice from where he stood, his hand resting on the railing at the top of the staircase.

"Professor? Sir, your bird… it just _caught fire_."

"There was nothing we could do," I added, stuttering myself, like Harry was. What? It's not everyday you just walk up to a bird that promptly bursts into flames.

"Oh, and about time too," Dumbledore said, making us both furrow our brows in confusion "He's been looking dreadful for days," Dumbledore paused, watching us both over the rim of his spectacles, and then began to walk slowly down the stairs. "It's a pity you had to see him on a burning day. Fawkes is a phoenix. They burst into flame when it is time for them to die, and are then reborn from the ashes." He joined us at the now empty perch where the ashes had gathered into a pile on the tray beneath. Even as he was speaking, the ashes were beginning to move, and a small head poked out from under them.

"Aw," Dumbledore said, leaning closer "fascinating creatures, phoenixes. They can carry immensely heavy loads, and they tars have healing powers." At that point the door burst open, making us all look to it as Hagrid hurried into the room, carrying what looked like a dead cockerel.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir! Wait! Listen!" he was panting heavily as he walked towards us "Professor Dumbledore sir, it wasn't Harry."

"Ah, Hagrid-"

"In fact I'd be prepared to swear it in front of the Ministry of Magic-"

"Hagrid," Dumbledore said, raising his voice, but not angrily, only to get Hagrid to listen. "Relax," Dumbledore continued, stepping towards the two of us "I do not believe Harry, or Midnight, attacked anyone."

"Well of course you don't-" Hagrid paused, and realising what he was saying and what Dumbledore had said. "Oh. Oh well er, I'll just wait outside then." He said bashfully as Dumbledore nodded. Hagrid retreated back out of the office, closing the door behind him. We turned to look at Dumbledore.

"You don't think it was me Professor?" Harry asked.

"No, I do not think it was you, Harry," Dumbledore said, and then looked to me "Nor do I think it was you, Midnight." He looked back at the both of us, glancing between us. "However, I must ask the both of you. Is there something you wish to tell me?" We glanced to each other once, and then back to him.

"No sir," we said, almost at exactly the same time. "Nothing." He looked at us curiously, and his gaze lingered on me for a second longer, as if he was remembering something, or considering something, and then nodded.

"Very well then," he said softly, "off you go." We nodded, turning together, and leaving. We passed Hagrid, who gave us a fast reassuring nod, and then walked back down the staircase.

"Well, that could have gone a lot worse," I muttered, and Harry nodded.

"I'm sorry Midnight. You shouldn't have had to come up there with me. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"So were you," I pointed out, and he shrugged.

"Yeah, but everyone's trying to say I'm the one doing it. No one thinks you're doing anything."

"I'm always doing something," I shrugged, and then smiled at him "It's what makes me me. And also what makes me very annoying to people like Pansy. But anyway," I ruffled my hair as we walked "we should both get back to our common rooms. It's getting late, and with the two attacks tonight… well, it probably wouldn't be wise to be wandering the corridors." He nodded.

"I guess I'll see you later then."

"I guess," I agreed, imitating him. He rolled his eyes at me, and cracked a small grin as we went off down separate corridors.

By the time I got to the common room, the curfew was in effect. Daphne was sat on the sofa, and stood up as soon as I walked in.

"Midnight! There you are! Where have you been?!" She asked, firing the questions at me.

"Whoa, slow down, Daphne. What's got you so riled up?"

"Uh, let me think. Two more people were petrified, and you just disappeared off of the face of the Earth!"

"I did not. When I left the study session those people had just been attacked. I ran into them and Harry."

"Harry?" Daphne said, her eyes widening "So he _is_ doing it?"

"No, don't be stupid," I rolled my eyes "He left right before I did, remember? He had probably just found them too. But Filch came and saw us, and then went to get McGonagall who sent us to Dumbledore…look it doesn't matter."

"What did Dumbledore say?" she asked eagerly.

"Nothing very interesting, just that he doesn't think me and Harry are attacking people." She sighed, and I couldn't tell whether it was a sigh of relief or disappointment.


	14. Ginny And Pansy

**I'm sorry, I know it's another late update. But hopefully this chapter will make up for it as it's over twice as long as my normal chapters. I was up until midnight last night writing it and it still wasn't done. I'm pretty busy this weekend and have loads of homework to do so I don't know if the next update will be out on Sunday or Monday, I'm not sure which yet but it should be around that time. Until then I hope you enjoy!**

I was sat at the Slytherin table the following morning, eating my breakfast quietly in peace. No one had bothered me today, no one had stopped me, or tried to talk to me, I'd just been left alone. It was nice to have some time to myself, especially as I needed it to think about tonight; tonight, I plan on confronting Ginny Weasley. If for some reason that the ultimately minute possibility that it is a trap is actually a reality, I don't plan to disappoint. I'm taking my dagger and my sword, just in case.

The hardest part about it is going to be concealing my real identity as the heir of Slytherin. If she sets the monster on me and I control it to protect myself, or use it against her, she'll know it's really me, and I can't have that. I mean, I'm innocent, I haven't set the monster on anyone, but it's going to be a hell of a lot easier for her to put the blame on me. No one would believe poor, sweet little Ginny Weasley would attack anyone. But me? Well, I can be damn scary when I want to be; most of the first years avoid me, even the ones in my own house, and I haven't said a single word to any of them. I bet not a lot of people would have trouble thinking it was me who did it. It's going to be tricky, but I have to do it.

I glanced up casually from my food just in time to see Daphne hurry into the hall, pausing just inside the door to look around, like she was searching for someone. Then she spotted me, and practically ran over, her cloak billowing behind her.

"Is it true?!" she exclaimed, not bothering to lower her voice. It was then that I realised people were watching me. Not us. Me. From every table, I mean, there wasn't a lot of people in, but it was more than enough.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"Don't play coy with me, Midnight Smith. _Everyone's_ been talking about it. So, answer me! I have to know!"

"Know what?" I snapped, irritated.

"About you and Harry! You know Susan Bones from Hufflepuff? Well, she said that Marietta Edgecombe from Ravenclaw told her that a portrait upstairs told her that Millicent was told by Pansy that she saw you two totally acting like a item. So, is it true?" I blinked once, absorbing the mass of confusion she had just spluttered in front of me.

"Daphne," I said calmly, realising everyone was listening to us "I think it's time I told you the truth. Come closer." I gestured for her to lean closer, and she did with wide eyes, putting her ear towards my mouth so I could whisper into it. "You're an idiot!" I barked loudly, and she recoiled rubbing her ear.

"Ow," she muttered "so, you're not going out?"

"No! In Merlin's name use your brain, Daphne! I know you have one in there somewhere. Pansy's just spreading rumours. I can't believe you listened to a chain of Chinese whispers."

"Sorry," she muttered moodily, sitting down. I rolled my eyes and looked at everyone who was watching us.

"Something interesting over here?" I yelled, and they all seemed to jump, before going sheepishly back to their breakfasts. I stood in frustration, anger already beginning to settle on my brain like a cloak of red mist.

"Where are you going now?" Daphne asked, exasperated.

"To teach Pansy a lesson," I said seriously. She must have detected something in my tone of voice that made her worry, as she stood without having eaten a morsel and hurried over to me.

"No, Midnight. Just leave it." She said, hurrying next to me.

"So she thinks she can just spread rumours about me without consequences? I don't think so." I said, striding now out of the hall and through the corridor towards the Slytherin common room.

"No, I mean, if you get angry she's just going to know how to push your buttons. Just ignore her."

"Oh trust me, she won't be pushing _anyone's_ buttons once I'm through with her."

"Midnight, Midnight no! Listen to me!" She moved in front of me to block my way, but I carried on walking, forcing her to walk backwards so she could stay in front of me. "Midnight, don't do anything stupid,"

"I never do anything stupid," I smiled at her, but it wasn't a friendly smile, more like a threatening smile.

"What are you going to do then?" she asked, suspicious.

"I'm just going to have a little _chat_ with her, that's all," I responded innocently.

"I don't know what your definition of 'chat' is, but if you end up the hospital wing I'm going to say I told you so,"

"Fine by me. Now move. Go do whatever you normally do on a weekend," She halted, and then huffed, moving out of my way.

"I'll see you later," I said, not very enthusiastically, my mind too focused on finding Pansy. She grunted in response, and strode off back in the direction of the Great Hall, most likely to get her breakfast.

I carried on walking, feeling perfectly calm. That's the feeling I get though, when I'm focused, ready. It's the feeling of my genetics doing their job as I slip into one of the instincts embedded into my system to help me survive: the instinct to fight. To defend myself. I mean, Daphne, and probably a lot of people, would think I was freaking out over nothing. But really, I've been putting up with Pansy's rubbish for a year and a half, and spreading rumours, making me the centre of attention in a time when I need to be incredibly subtle, is not acceptable. I can only be pushed so far, and she needs to know that. I just have to make sure she gets what I'm talking about the first time around.

It's snowing outside, so she'll probably be out in the snow messing around with Tracy and Millicent, or loitering in the corridors near the snow watching other people mess around. And when I say Pansy's 'messing around' what I really mean is she's probably waiting for some poor first year to snowball or throw ice at the moment they come into her view.

I walked through the corridors smoothly, not drawing suspicion. The only hint to anyone who passed that I was going to do something was possibly the smile of my face. I noticed a classroom on the left, and old one. I don't think anyone has an office there. I paused and opened the door quietly. It creaked as it opened, but there was no one in there – it was just a spare classroom, and today's Saturday, no one will be teaching or learning in there. Could be useful.

I closed the door again and carried on down the corridor. Maybe the rumour is just an excuse as a last straw, before she goes and does something worse, I'll make her know not to make me an enemy. And I'm going to enjoy it.

Tracy was the one I spotted first, snickering as a first year ran into the corridor I was walking in, weeping as she ran past, snow covering the right side of her face. I could hear Pansy laughing, Millicent and Tracy sounding like cackling crones as they laughed alongside her. I walked into their view, and they instantly stopped, Tracy and Millicent glancing to each other worriedly. I smiled at them both, and it was a friendly smile. Got to keep up appearances right? If they think something's wrong they might go and get a teacher.

"What do you want?" Pansy scowled.

"Professor Snape wants you." I told her, making it up on the spot "Follow me." She groaned and then glared at me.

"Fine," she muttered, then turned to Tracy and Millicent "Don't get anyone without me. I'll be back in a minute." I turned, beginning to walk away down the corridor, and she followed me, trailing behind slightly. I walked in the direction of the empty classroom.

"What does he want me for anyway? And why did he send _you_?" She scowled.

"How should I know?" I responded, and then casually walked towards the classroom, opening the door and walking in. It was still empty. Good.

"He's in here," I told her, and she walked in, messing with her hair, trying to look as innocent as possible, like she would never hurt a fly, never break a rule. Always the good girl. I closed the door behind her, and she paused before turning to look at me as I undid my cloak and slung it over one of the desks.

"Well? Where is he?" She demanded, and I smiled at her. She frowned, and then spotted that the door was closed, and look back to me, eyes widening slightly as I cracked my knuckles.

"Pansy Pansy Pansy," I sighed, and then smiled at her "Haven't you had enough warnings about pushing my buttons? Spreading rumours? I mean, come on, that's low, Pansy. Very low." She pulled out her wand and pointed it at me. I chuckled a little.

"Really?" I asked sceptically, and a doubtful, worried look crossed her face. I grinned, and realised I might have looked a little like a lunatic, but I didn't care. I want her to be scared.

"You don't scare me," she sneered, but I could tell from her face she was getting more and more scared by the minute. "_Rictusem-_" I didn't give her time to finish the hex as I moved towards her at top speed, knocking the wand out of her hand and putting my own hand to her throat, swinging her around and pinning her against the wall. I wasn't pressing hard enough to choke her, but her hands still went to mine to try to pry it off from around her throat.

After a second I let go, and took a step backwards. She spluttered, taking in a deep breathe and rubbing her neck.

"You're cra-" I didn't let her finish that sentence either, and found my fist slamming into the side of her face, full force behind the punch, over a year of intense physical training on my side. I didn't give her time to recover either, punching her again just as hard in the same place. And again. And again. And again. Five punches in total. I could have gone on for much longer, but I had a little feeling niggling in the back of my mind that if I did go for that long, or punch much harder, I might just kill her. And I don't want to kill her, just make her scared. So scared she won't want to have anything to do with me. No rumours, no petty annoyances ever five minutes, no talking behind my back the way I know she does.

By the time I landed the fifth and final punch she was on the floor, so I hauled her up by her jumped and pinned her against the wall by the throat again. She was whimpering and gurgling slightly, the right side of her face red with blood and already beginning to swell.

"This is a warning," I snarled "Keep doing what you're doing and I'll _end_ _you_. You understand?" She made a tiny nodding gesture, the most she could probably manage with me holding her the way I am. Like I said, I don't want to kill her. But she doesn't have to know that. I let go of her, and she slumped slightly against the wall, breathing heavily.

"Oh, and if you tell any of the teachers about this," I said, leaning in towards her face with a maniacal grin, a wonderful threat suddenly popping into my head "I'll cut your tongue out. And no amount of Madam Pomfrey's magic will be able to bring it back." She looked up at me wide eyed, the right eye already beginning to swell as well, blood trickling down her cheek and dripping from her chin. "I don't think I have to explain that I'm serious, right?" I leant away, and scoffed. "Right. I'll see you around, _Pansy_."

I picked up my cloak, realising my fist hurt a little, my knuckles red from both the impact of punching her, and from her blood. It won't be permanent of course, Madam Pomfrey can easily fix it. It's the memory I want to stay with her, not the injury (although I wouldn't mind if she looked like crap for a while).

I left the room, closing the creaking door behind me, took a long satisfied sigh, and set off for the nearest bathroom to wash myself up.

"A few more days should do it," I told Harry and Ron from where I was sat in the girls bathroom, stirring the nearly finished polyjuice potion.

"For the first time in my life I think I'm _glad_ Draco's sticking around," Ron said with a chuckle.

"Ron's right; imagine if we'd done all this work and he had gone home for the holidays the moment it was finished," Harry said with a grin.

"Why isn't he going home?" I asked. Harry shrugged.

"I don't know. Midnight just said they were staying here this Christmas when I asked her. She didn't tell me why."

"Maybe she doesn't know," Ron suggested.

"Midnight knows everything," Harry said immediately, and Ron and I looked at him. He blinked, as if not realising what he'd said until it was out of his mouth.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"It's not… that didn't come out the way I thought it would." Harry said sheepishly "I don't know. She just… _knows_ things." I looked back to the potion, a little hurt. I don't trust Midnight that much. I mean, I tried to accept her, because Harry accepts her. They're friends. Maybe. I even tried to help her, to maybe show her we could all be friends, to maybe prove houses could mix. But there's just something about her I don't trust. Just a feeling I guess.

"Well, we all agreed on that, didn't we?" Ron said suddenly, making us both look at him. "You remember when we thought she was a seer? It's like you said Harry: she _knows_ things."  
"So?"

"So, there's a monster attacking muggle-borns in the school," I said, the thought clicking in my brain "You don't think she knows who's doing it, do you?"

"If it's not _her_ doing it," Ron said darkly, making us both look at him. After a second, I looked back down at the potion I was slowly stirring.

"I guess we'll find out in a few days." Everything was silent for a moment. If it hadn't have been, we might not have heard the footsteps coming our way from outside. We all looked up at each other.

"I thought you said no one ever comes in here?" Ron whispered quickly.

"They don't." I responded, but the footsteps _definitely_ sounded like they were coming towards us.

"Quick, we have to hide! We can't be found out now! Not when we're so close!" Harry said in an urgent whisper. I picked up the cauldron, being careful to hurry but not spill any on myself at the same time. Harry and Ron hurried into one stall, and I hurried into another, standing on the toilet lid so if anyone looked under the door they wouldn't see my feet, although I knew a locked door would probably condemn me anyway. I held the potion tight between my hands, breathing heavily but trying my best to be quiet. A few seconds later, I heard the door open, and someone walked in.

They sighed, and a tap started to run. I identified a sound not dissimilar to scrubbing before the person spoke.

"Damn, does this stuff _never_ come off?" The voice said. It was a girls' voice, and I recognised it instantly. _Midnight_? What's she doing in here? No one comes in here, no one. And what is she rubbing off? Is it something on her hands? Her arms? Her face? My curiosity was peaking quickly.

Another set of footsteps quickly entered the room.

"Merlin! Midnight what did you do?! I told you not to do anything stupid!" another girls' voice said urgently.

"I never do anything stupid," Midnight responded calmly.

"Have you seen yourself? You're covered in _blood_ Midnight! Look at that sink! It's _red_."

"It's also not as bad as it looks," she replied "although I take it you haven't actually _seen_ Pansy within the last ten minutes."

"I thought you were just going to hex her or something? And even then I would have been angry at you!"

"Pfft, hexing is for wimps who are afraid of getting their hands dirty," she answered.

"Hey, _I'm_ good at hexing."

"Yeah?" There was a pause.

"You are _really_ pushing your luck with me, Midnight. With everyone. I don't know what you did to Pansy, but it clearly wasn't good. When people find out about that-"

"they're going to realise the school bully who torments anyone within her sight has been one-upped. Seriously, Daphne, relax a little. She's not dead, and she's not going to die. She's just going to realise she's not as powerful as she thinks she is."

"Look I hate Pansy as much as the next person, but I really think you went too far."

"And you haven't even seen her yet."  
"Are you even listening to me?"  
"Of course I'm listening."

"Well you need to listen more. Half the time when I'm around you, you don't even care. You hardly ever listen to me, you brush me off nearly all the time. I thought you were my friend. Now I'm wondering why I even want to be your friend."

"Daphne, I don't 'brush you off', and I do listen to you. I'm just thinking most of the time. It puts my AHDH to good use rather than me sitting around tapping my feet all day slowly going crazy."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, let's say you do listen, and your ADHD is the reason you're so distracted all the time. Tell me why you're never honest with me."  
"I have my reasons."

"See? You're not even being honest now. You never tell me anything."

"You don't always need to know." Midnight responded calmly. There was another pause, and then a sigh. "Alright, if it means that much to you, I'll be honest. One question. Ask me one question and no matter what it is, I'll answer honestly."

"Any question?"  
"Any at all."

"But I have so many."

"Well just ask one of them. I'll probably end up answering the others by accident anyway." There was another pause where I presumed Daphne was thinking.

"Ok. I've got one."

"Well, ask me then."

"Are you the one letting the monster out of the chamber?"

"No."

"You're not?"  
"No, why would I do that?"

"Well, it's just, you're never in the common room. And you're never where you say you'll be. I mean, you come in after curfew half the time."

"So?"  
"So, it's pretty suspicious, especially when all these people are being attacked. I mean, I know they're mudbloods but still…"

"Was that going to be your other question? Where do I go most nights?"  
"Well, yeah."

"You want the truth?"  
"Yes."

"I go out jogging on the grounds. It helps me think, keeps my head straight and burns off all the pent up energy inside. But it takes time coming and going from the castle. That's why I'm late a lot – the time just gets away from me."  
"You swear that's what you're doing?"  
"I swear."

"Well, I like jogging. Can I come too?"

"Not really," there was a pause "don't look at me like that. It's not because I don't want you there, and I'm not lying either if that's what you're thinking. I can get away with it because if I get caught I don't look like me. I just make myself look like another student and they get the blame. But you're not a metamorphmagus. Don't you think it would raise suspicions if we got caught? A Hufflepuff or a Ravenclaw or even a Gryffindor hanging out and jogging with a Slytherin student? No. The teachers aren't that dumb. They'd know I was me. Me going by myself keeps us both out of trouble."

"I guess that's… reasonable," Daphne said sourly.

"Good. Now, I have to finish washing my hands. This stuff's a nightmare to get off. Oh, and if you do happen to see Pansy, I'm just going to tell you now it's not as bad as it looks. Unless she's already gone to Madam Pomfrey that is."

"Right," Daphne said, although she didn't sound happy. I heard the door open and then close again. A few moments later, I heard a long sigh, and then a little laugh.

"Well, let's get this over with." Footsteps echoed out of the room, and I heard the door open and close. After a few minutes, I heard the stall door next to mine open, so I got down off of the toilet lid and carried the cauldron back out, putting it on the floor by the sinks where we had been before.

"Did you hear all that?" Ron asked, although I thought it was more of a rhetorical question.  
"Yeah," I answered.

"Well, if she was being honest then at least that's one person to rule out as the heir," Harry said hopefully, but his voice was really carrying any emotion. I stood and looked towards the sinks. I didn't want to see the blood they had been talking about, but I couldn't help myself. I began to walk around the sinks, and quickly found the one they were talking about. The basin was a washed-out red colour, and it looked like there was a lot of it. I shivered. Ron and Harry quickly joined me to look at the sink.

"She really did that?" Harry gulped?

"To Pansy Parkinson they said," I nodded, but felt sick. What did she do?

"Come on," Harry said, gently touching my arm "We have to finish that potion."

I took a deep breath as I slipped my sword into my bag (it only just fit), and my dagger into my boot, hiding it under my trouser leg. This is it. I'm going to confront Ginny Wealsey. I had made sure I wasn't wearing anything remotely Slytherin-like, and had picked out a person in Gryffindor to masquerade as while I get Ginny and lure her out of the common room – it's going to have to be one of her friends. I've been watching them all day, so I know what they look and sound like, and a little of how they act, but hopefully she won't be too questioning about it.

I took another deep breath and sighed slowly before spinning on my heel and walking downstairs to the common room. Pansy's 'lesson' had worked just as I wanted it to – she had gone to Madam Pomfrey shortly after the incident and gotten fixed up, but she was terrified of me now. Just what I wanted. Every time I go past she shrinks away. She hasn't said a word to me all day, and hasn't spoken much to any of her friend either, although some of them saw her before she made it to the hospital wing, and the news that half of Pansy's face looked like it had been pulled straight out of a horror movie quickly spread around the school. Only Daphne and Pansy actually know I was the one who did it though, and although Daphne's not happy, neither of them will say anything.

I walked through the common room with a little wave in Draco and Daphne's direction. They waved back slightly, and I left the room, morphing almost as soon as I was out in the corridor into one of her friends.

I hurried through the corridor, not wanting curfew to be an excuse she could use against me. When I reached the moving staircases I slowed down, not wanting any of the portraits, especially the Fat Lady portrait that guards the Gryffindor common room, to be suspicious of me. It was only when I got there, finally standing in front of the portrait that I realised something. I didn't know the Gryffindor password.

I stood like an idiot, the Fat Lady watching me carefully. I couldn't believe I had been so stupid. I had overlooked, even forgotten about, such a simple yet essential detail of my plan.

"Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to give me the password?" The Fat Lady said crossly.

"Umm," I responded dumbly. Footsteps coming up from behind me made me turn slightly in time to see Neville Longbottom coming up the stairs. He spotted me instantly.

"Are you ok?" He asked me.

"Um, yeah, I've just forgotten the password," I said, trying to use as innocent a voice as possible. He grinned at me.

"Oh don't worry, I do that all the time. I had to write it down just to try to remember. Silly thing is I'm going to have to remember a new one as soon as Christmas is over because they're changing it again." Neville turned to the Fat Lady and told her the password. The portrait opened and we walked in. Neville wandered off to see some friends, and I made my way towards the girls dorm stairs – it's a pretty similar layout to the Slytherin common rooms. Up the stairs, boys on the left, girls on the right. Right. I couldn't see Ginny in the common room anywhere, so I went up the stairs, trying to guess which dorm might be theirs. Ok I really should have thought of a better plan. As it happened, luck was on my side, as Ginny stepped out of a dorm room a few doors down from where I was. I just hope the person I'm pretending to be wasn't in there with her, otherwise this could get tricky.

"Oh hi Abby," she smiled. She didn't look very well, pale and peaky.

"Hi Ginny. I was wondering if you could help me with something."

"Yeah, sure. What is it?"

"I've left my quill and ink in one o the classrooms downstairs. Can you come and help me find them?" I asked, again making the story up on the spot. Why does this plan sound so bad the moment I start doing it?

"Sure. Do you remember where you saw it last?"

"Um, last period, I think," I said, not knowing what lessons they had had that day.

"Professor Flitwick's room then. Come on." She said, her bag slung over her shoulder. She led the back down the stairs and out of the Gryffindor common room. It was quiet out here apart from a few portraits muttering to each other.

"We'll have to hurry," Ginny said, "we don't want to be late for curfew."

"Yep. Thanks for coming with me,"

"No problem." She paused "Are you ok? I mean, you never normally forget anything."

"I guess I'm just having a bit of an off day," I smiled a weak smile, and she returned it. We were halfway to Flitwick's room when I stopped. There's no one around, but a corridor is a nice space. If things suddenly go south, I won't be cornered in anywhere, and people would quickly arrive if I screamed. The only problem with that plan is Ginny has both those advantages too.

"Something wrong?" She asked, realising I had stopped, and turned to face me.

"Why are you doing it, Ginny?" I asked, and her eyes widened slightly.

"Doing what?" she stuttered, and I knew she knew what I was talking about "I'm helping you find your things. Isn't that what friends do?" She attempted a little laugh, but it came out dry and worried.

"You know what I mean," I said seriously "of all the people in the school, you'd be one of the last people on the list that I'd expect to be letting out Slytherin's monster."

"I-I'm not…"

"You're not the heir of Slytherin, that much is obvious. So how are you doing it? _Why_ are you doing it?"

"I-I'm not, I don't, I can't _say_," she said, sounding frustrated and scared.

"You're going to have to, whether you want to or not," I answered. The terrified look in her eyes was trying to plead with me.

"It's not that I don't want to, I _can't_." She said, emphasising the 'can't', and I thought I understood a little. Someone must be hexing her, or jinxing her, or threatening her, so she'll do it, but she can't say who's forcing her to do it. What Ginny wants or doesn't want has no say in the matter.

"I don't even know if it _is_ me doing it," she whimpered "I can't remember where I was, or what I was doing when each of the attacks happened. It's like he puts me to sleep and wakes me up again when the attack's over."

"He?" I said, suspicious "Who's he?" She whimpered again.

"Please don't, I can't tell you anything. Abby, I thought we were friends. Why are you doing this?"

"I'm not Abby," I said, and her eyes widened further "you'd be surprised what some potions can do," I added, trying to move any suspicion away from myself as the only metamorphmagus in the school.

"Ginny, I've _seen_ you doing it, whether you want to or not. You're the one attacking the muggle-borns. It has to stop before someone dies." I said seriously, and she nodded, terrified.

"Please, you can't tell anyone, I'll be expelled."

"And if I don't someone could die," She began to cry a little, sobbing.

"Ginny, whoever's doing this to you, I can help you stop him. Professor Dumbledore can stop him. You can stop him."

"I can't, I can't," she sobbed, "he said they'd kill me and my family if I told anyone,"

"Not if you stop him he can't," I said to her. What has she gotten herself into? "Listen, tell me who he is, and I'll stop him. He won't even have to know you said anything."

"I can't. Please just leave me alone,"

"I can't do that," I said harshly, and then ran my fingers through my hair with a sigh. "Ginny, listen to me. Just tell me where the chamber is."

"No, you'll make him angry…"

"Ginny. Tell me where the chamber is, and we'll forget this ever happened. I won't say anything to Dumbledore, or anyone else. You and your family will be safe. He'll never know."

"Y-you promise?"

"Yeah, I promise."

"I think it's in girls' bathroom on the second floor. I woke up there once right after an attack, and the whole bathroom had been flooded. If it's not there then I don't know where it is. I woke up in my room all the other times."

"Ok. Why don't you go and clean yourself up before you go back to the common room, otherwise people might notice." She nodded quickly, still scared but I sensed a little relieved. Whoever's controlling her isn't going to kill her and her family tonight.

She hurried off, taking her bag with her, and I stayed in the corridor for a few moments more. Well, that certainly didn't play out the way I thought it would, but at least I got something out of this whole thing. I know where the Chamber of Secrets is.


	15. The Polyjuice Potion

**Hi guys! It's finally up, the Christmas/Polyjuice Potion chapter! I had it nearly ready yesterday but I wasn't very well and so instead of finishing the chapter I spent the evening burying my head into my pillow in a dark room. But I'm better now! I hope you enjoy the chapter, it's a little different from the other chapters so far in that none of the 'sections' of this chapter are from Midnight's perspective. I hope you like it, it's a little different but I certainly enjoyed writing it.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

I plated up my food with the rest of Gryffindor and then walked to the other end of the table to join Harry and Ron who were sat by themselves. No one will come near Harry when they don't have to. It's stupid really. I don't think Harry is the heir of Slytherin, but they _did_ live a thousand years ago. He might well be a descendent of Salazar Slytherin – but that doesn't mean he's attacking anyone. After all, there could be more than one descendent. They looked up at me as I sat down, my thoughts switching to the polyjuice potion.

"Everything's set," I whispered "we just need a bit of who you're changing into."

"Crabbe and Goyle," Harry said, and I nodded.

"We also need to make sure that the _real_ Crabbe and Goyle can't burst in on us when we're interrogating Malofy."

"How?" Ron asked.

"I've got it all worked out," I answered him. I'm quite pleased with myself really for thinking of it. It seems like one of those small details someone else would overlook if they were going to try to do this. Not that anyone else would try to do this. I took the two cupcakes I had prepared earlier out of my bag and showed them to the boys.

"I've filled these with a simple sleeping draught. Simple, but powerful." I placed them on the table in front of me. "Now, once they're asleep, hide them in the broomstick cupboard and pull out a few of their hairs. And put on their uniforms."

Harry and Ron were looking at each like I'd said something absurd.

"Whose hair are you ripping out then?" Ron asked haughtily.

"I've already got mine," I said, pulling a test-tube with some long dark hairs in it, out of my pocket. "Millicent Bulstrode. Slytherin. I got this off her robes." I paused "I'm going to go and check on the polyjuice potion. Make sure that Crabbe and Goyle find _these_." I said, pushing the cupcakes further towards them. I stood, taking my plate of food with me, although I'm really too nervous to eat.

I hurried up to the girls' bathroom on the second floor to prepare the polyjuice potion. It was done this morning, well, apart from adding the hairs which is the final part, and I've gotten a glass for us each to drink it out of. If I'm being honest, it doesn't look appetising at all, and it smells even worse than it looks. The thought of drinking it just puts me off my food more. I just hope that's what it's supposed to be like. If a potion as complex as the Polyjuice potion goes wrong at any stage it could be disastrous. We could be in the hospital wing for weeks, even years. Maybe even forever. Maybe I should have told Harry and Ron that, but whenever I think that maybe this _is_ too risky, that we should stop, an echo almost sounds in my head. And it's Midnight's voice that I hear. '_Everyone knows your name…if someone's targeting muggle-borns, you'd probably be high up on their list…_' I know I am. I've been lucky so far. Mrs Norris, Collin, Justin, Sir Nicholas… it could just as easily have been me. Whoever's doing this has to be stopped. Now.

That's why I've not said anything. I've not stopped making this potion, not stopped thinking about it constantly. This has to end. And if Malfoy doesn't know anything… I don't know what we'll do. He _has_ to know something. He has to.

I put my bag and plate of food down on the floor (I probably won't eat it anyway) and brought the polyjuice potion out of one of the toilet cubicles where it stays hidden when we're not here. The potion was steaming slightly as I picked it up and put it in one of the sinks. I brought the glasses to the sinks and picked up a ladle I borrowed from the potions room. I'm sure Professor Snape won't notice it's missing, and I'll just put it back next lesson when everyone gets back, or maybe when everyone's at dinner.

I was nervous. My hands were shaking and I could feel my temperature rising. If I've done this wrong… no, don't think that. I've followed the instructions exactly, taken every precaution possible. Nothing should be able to go wrong. I took a deep breath and steadied my hands. Everything will be fine, as long as I stop being silly.

I took the Slytherin robes I had taken from the lost and found and changed quickly in the cubicle. Millicent has gone home for the holidays, I checked. I just have to hope that no one else realises anything. A few minutes later, Ron and Harry hurried in, carrying robes in their arms.

"It worked?" I asked.

"Yeah," Harry nodded.

"How thick can you get?" Ron muttered to himself, referring to Crabbe and Goyle. They went into a cubicle each and came out a few minutes later wearing Slytherin robes which were far too big for them; poor Harry was completely swamped by Goyle's robes.

"You've got the hairs?" I asked, and they each nodded, holding a few between their fingers. I took a deep breath and turned to the potion, ladling some into a glass for each of us.

"We'll have exactly one hour before we change back into ourselves," I told them, slightly reassured with that simple fact. Facts always reassured me. The potion was lumpy, grey and disgusting looking, and I could see it on their faces that they didn't want to drink it. Then again, my face probably mirrored their expressions.

I handed them a glass each and took my own, and a little shiver of excitement shot down my spine, despite my doubts. If we find out who's attacking the muggleborns tonight we could save the school…

"Add the hairs," I instructed, adding my own collection of Millicent's hair as Harry and Ron added their samples.

"Urgh," Ron said, curling his nose up in disgust "Essence of Crabbe,"

"Cheers," I said dully, and we 'clinked' glasses before downing the potion. It tasted worse than it looked, and felt even worse than that, a slimy texture sitting on my tongue as the mushy slimy liquid seemed to roll slowly through my throat, leaving an unpleasant trail behind it that felt suffocating. And then it hit me, a wave of nausea and revulsion.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Ron cried, running off to a cubicle.

"Me too," I agreed hurriedly, following to my own cubicle. I just had time to slam the door behind me and bend over the toilet to vomit when I felt my skin bubbling, and there was heat everywhere, like a sudden rash had exploded over my body. I closed my eyes, breathing heavily as another wave of nausea hit me, but I couldn't vomit. I was too absorbed in the way I was changing. Eventually, the pulsing, the bubbling, died away, and I opened my eyes again, only to see my vision was blurred. I looked at my hands, expecting to see Millicent's chubby fingers. Only, I didn't have fingers. My hands… oh Merlin, my _hands_. Oh, oh _God_ what have I done? I looked at my legs and saw fur covering them, I felt the way my feet, or paws, were too big for my shoes.

"Harry?" I heard Ron ask out in the bathroom.

"Ron?"

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed, but it was more an exclamation of shock than distress. Am, am I the only one like this? _The hairs_… oh no, I got the wrong hairs. I got _cat hair_.

"We still sound like ourselves," Harry said "You need to sound more like Crabbe."  
"Uh, bloody hell." Ron said in a deeper voice.

"Excellent," Harry said cheerfully, and I sensed he was grinning.

"But, where's Hermione?" Ron asked. I can't let them see me like this. I just can't. We've already entered the one hour mark, they have to go. Now.

"I-I don't think I'm going," I said, my voice shaky "You go on without me."

"Hermione, are you ok?" Harry asked.

"Just go! You're wasting time!" I replied, frustrated, trying to shake the wobble from my voice, and failing.

"Come on," Harry said after a moment, and I heard them hurry off. Oh Merlin, please don't let this last, please. I don't want to be half-cat half-girl for the rest of my life. Please, please.

It was as I was trembling, trying not to cry, that I noticed my tail.

* * *

"I think the Slytherin common room's this way," I told Ron as we walked through the dimly lit corridors.

"Ok," Ron nodded, following me as I started walking. We had only just started walking when someone walked out of the corridor in front of us.

"Excuse me." He said sternly, and I realised it was Percy, one of Ron's older brothers. He started striding towards us, a strong frown on his face.

"What are you doing d-" Ron began, but he still sounded like Ron. I elbowed him quickly, and he deepened his voice "I mean, what are you doing down here?" he asked. Percy stopped in front of us.

"I happen to be a school prefect," Percy answered snottily "You on the other hand have no business wandering the corridors at this time of night." We both nodded a little uncertainly.

"What are you names again?" Percy asked, and Ron and I looked at each other.

"Uh, I'm.."

"Crabbe, Goyle!" someone said strongly from behind us, making us turn. "Where have you two been?" Midnight asked. Her face looked relaxed, but her tone made me wonder. "Pigging out in the Great Hall all this time?" She strode up to stand by us, and then looked at Percy, and then looked back to me, a small frown on her face.

"Why are you wearing glasses?" she asked. Oh, Merlin, I forgot about my glasses. I quickly reached up to them and took them off.

"Um, reading," I answered quickly.

"Reading?" She questioned, and then paused "I didn't know you could read." I nodded quickly, and she shrugged and turned back to Percy.

"Sorry about them, it's a simple misunderstanding. We'll be going now."

"Hang on a second, what are you doing down here as well. No one should be out now."

"You don't need to know what we were doing, and you're not going to ask again." She said, only this time her tone was different from all the others. It was confident, almost _commanding_, but still had a small sense of charm to it, like you wanted to do what she said. Percy watched her for a moment, saying nothing.

"You can go now," she said to him, as if it should have been obvious, and he nodded, turning around obediently to leave. Ron and I glanced to each other stupidly in shock, as Midnight smirked.

"Come on you two, Draco's been looking everywhere for you," she said, although any sense of command was gone I thought it was still a good idea to obey. She started walking around the corner, and we followed her. She led us through a maze of corridors until we started walking down a set of stairs, reaching the dungeons.

"It's not like you two to be so late out of the Great Hall, and when I looked for you earlier I couldn't find you," she said, shrugging, and then smiled at us. "Were you really reading? I think it's the first thing you've ever done that's even remotely intellectual, Goyle. Were you reading too Crabbe?"

"Uh, no." Ron answered, using his deeper voice. That's good. Percy might not have picked up on anything, but Midnight definitely would. Just bringing up the glasses in conversation again makes me think she's suspicious.

She led us to a painting on a wall, not unlike the portrait of the Fat Lady, although this one was of an old man with dark beady eyes.

"Pureblood," she said casually, and the man nodded silently, the portrait swinging open. She led the way in, her dark hair bouncing around her shoulders.

"Hey Draco!" she yelled as the portrait swung closed behind us "Found them," she pointed behind her at us, and Malfoy walked away from whatever conversation he had been having.

"Where have you two been?" he asked us with a scowl, and then rolled his eyes, and walked over to the sofa, slumping down leisurely and putting his feet up so he took up the whole sofa. Midnight walked away, leaving us to stand in front of the opposite sofa awkwardly.

"Well sit down," Malfoy said, completely relaxed. Ron and I sat, and I was suddenly very nervous. This is it, if something goes wrong now, there's no turning back.

"Where have you been all this time?" he asked us again.

"Great Hall," I answered.

"All this time?" he said, disbelievingly, and then he looked away and shrugged. Midnight joined us then, almost vaulting over the back of the sofa Malfoy was on to land neatly next to him. He just moved his legs off the sofa in time.

"We got stopped by Percy Weasley on the way back," she told him, and he snickered.

"Weasley? What did he do?"  
"Nothing really. I took care of it."

"Don't you always?" she slapped his arm lightly, almost playfully with a small smile on her face.

"You'd never know the Weasley's were pure-bloods, the way they behave," Malfoy said casually, although cruelly. I sensed Ron tensing beside me. "They're an embarrassment to the wizarding world, all of them." He continued. Ron clenched his fist.

"You alright there Crabbe?" Midnight asked. She was watching Ron closely. I elbowed him slightly, and he looked at me, unclenching his fist and relaxing.

"Stomachache," Ron responded dully.

"Well maybe you'll know not to eat so much next time," Midnight said with a small smirk.

"You know, I'm surprised _The Daily Prophet_ hasn't done a report on all these attacks. I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. Father always said Dumbledore was the worst thing that ever happened to this place."

"You're wrong!" I couldn't help myself, I had to. Ron was looking at me in horror as Malfoy and Midnight's attention shifted fully to me. Malfoy stood, almost menacingly. Or as menacingly as he can get.

"What?" He demanded "You think there's someone here who's worse than Dumbledore? Well?! Do you?!" Hundreds of names suddenly rushed through my head, but one, surely a thousand times worse than Dumbledore in Malfoy's books, suddenly entered my head.

"Harry Potter?" I suggested, and Ron looked to me again. There was a moment of silence.

"Good one Goyle," Malfoy said with a smirk, "You're absolutely right. Saint Potter," he spat. "And people actually think he's the heir of Slytherin?"

"You did that," Midnight said with a scowl before looking to him "Remember? You started the rumours."

"Well yes but everyone else spread them," he shrugged. Malfoy's behind why everyone's been avoiding me? Now it was my turn to try not to clench my fists in anger.

"But then you must have some idea who's behind it all," I said.

"You know I don't, Goyle. I told you yesterday. How many times do I have to tell you?" Malfoy said simply, walking over to a table and picking up a small present. He shook it next to his ear, and it rattled.

"Is this yours?" he asked, looking to us. We shook our heads, and he made a move to put it in his pocket.

"Stealing is for the petty, Draco," Midnight said seriously without looking at him, and with a frown on his face he put it back. She looked at him then with a raised eyebrow, and he looked away. Was it always like this? All last year when I convinced Hermione to be sympathetic with her? Has she always been this confident behind closed doors? She has the whole school under her thumb. Everyone does what she says. If she wants something she gets it. I'm beginning to see it. And then there's that smile, that little grin that looks so innocent and genuine and charming, and yet I'm starting to suspect there's something behind that too.

"My father did say this:" Malfoy said seriously, and we were all listening then, Midnight included "It's been fifty years since the Chamber was opened. He wouldn't tell me who opened it, only that they were expelled. The last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a mudblood died. So it's only a matter of time before one of them is killed this time. As for me, I hope it's Granger." Ron was about to stand but I pushed him back down. The it was Midnight who grabbed our attention.

"That's enough Draco," she said seriously. It wasn't a snarl, but there was a small growl behind it. He frowned.

"I should have known _you_ wouldn't agree with me," he muttered.

"Whether I do or I don't, it doesn't matter. You shouldn't say things like that," Malfoy huffed and then sat back down next to her. "Besides," Midnight continued in a mutter "she'd probably come back to haunt you anyway."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," she answered him, and I felt a little happier that she'd sort of stuck up for Hermione, even if she hadn't for Ron and me. Although I guess wishing someone dead is a little different than just insulting them. She probably hears it all the time.

At that moment something else grabbed their attention and they both stared at it. Ron and I looked to see Pansy Parkinson walking past, although she was more shuffling. She was trembling, staring at the floor and sticking close to the wall, leaning her head in towards it. She lifted her eyes for a moment, and they met Midnight's before Pansy whimpered and hurried away. Midnight smirked.

"You've really scared her," Malfoy said, looking to Midnight. She grinned even wider.

"That was the point."

"You pounded half her head in."  
"It was fixed," she shrugged, and then muttered "although it would have been great it wasn't."

"And you're telling me not to wish people are dead." Malfoy said with a roll of his eyes.

"I don't want her _dead_," Midnight scowled "Just in a lot of pain. Maybe slightly mauled. Or mutilated. Either one is fine by me."

"You can be pretty creepy sometimes, you know that?" Malfoy said, and she grinned again.

"Aw, and you haven't even seen me when I'm trying." She laughed a little, and Malfoy laughed a little too, although his was more nervous. I glanced to Ron, and he glanced back, and that was when I noticed a tinge of red starting at the front of his hair. He pointed subtly to me. My scar.

We both stood suddenly and hurried off.

"Where are you two going?!" Malfoy yelled, but we ignored him, running out of the portrait into the corridors. Midnight's definitely going to know something's wrong, but it doesn't matter now, we're gone. We're out.

* * *

"That was close," I heard Harry said as loud footsteps entered the bathroom where I had stayed shut in my cubicle for the whole hour. I had taken one step outside the cubicle to look at myself in the mirror, but I couldn't bear it. My face… it's, it's… I hoped that by the one hour mark I would have changed back. But at the same time, I somehow knew it wouldn't happen. Moaning Myrtle had kept me company, although mostly spent the hour laughing at me.

"Hermione, come out, we've got loads to tell you!" Harry said excitedly. No, I, I can't.

"Go away," I told them. Myrtle went through the cubicle door to them.

"Wait till you see, it's _awful_," she giggled.

"Hermione?" Harry asked concernedly, and the door as slowly pushed open. "Are you ok?"

"Do you remember me telling you that the polyjuice potion was only for human transformations?" I asked, voice wavering as I turned around the face them.

"It was cat hair I plucked off Millicent Bulstrode's robes. Look at my face," I said despairingly. They were both watching me in horror, and then, with Myrtle giggling behind them, they cracked a grin.

"Look at your tail!" Ron exclaimed. Thanks Ron. As helpful and considerate as ever.


	16. New Term, New Mysteries

I knew something was wrong with Crabbe and Goyle at Christmas, but I couldn't work out what it was. They weren't acting like themselves at all. Wandering around the corridors, disagreeing with Draco, asking questions, getting angry. They don't _do_ things like that – most of the time they nod and grin stupidly at anything Draco says. They don't yell at the top of their voice 'you're wrong!' for the whole common room to hear. To make matters even more suspicious when I asked them the following morning they said they didn't remember a thing about that evening, and they woke up early that morning with their clothes dumped on them in a broomstick closet. Something was up. The phrase 'who are you and what have you done with Crabbe and Goyle?' popped into my head quite a few times. It's so confusing. I'm the only person in the school who can look like anyone else, I'm the only metamorphmagus. I thought a spell or a potion or something might have been able to do the same thing, but things like that you don't readily find in any ordinary textbook. A spell like that would probably be in a book in the restricted section if it was going to be anywhere. If I want to find out what's going on with that mystery, the records are probably the best place to look.

I didn't have much time to wonder over it as after a few days the train came back, bringing with it the start of the spring term. Everyone was excited again, smiling and cracking jokes. It was cringe-worthy. And then there were the show offs, Draco included, who paraded their presents around like the common room was a catwalk, smugly showing them to everyone who would watch. I spent that day in the Room of Requirement, training. It was better than standing around watching those idiots compete over Christmas presents. The Malfoy's got me some sweets and a broomstick for Christmas. I hadn't told them I wasn't too friendly with heights (not that I'm friendly with much anyway) and that sweets as sugary as those would surely make my ADHD unbearable no matter how much training I did. So I gave the broom to Draco, saying I was grateful but he could probably make more use out of it, and the sweets to Harry, who thanked me and almost looked ashamed that he hadn't gotten me a present. I didn't care. I'm not usually excited by the thought of getting gifts, unless they're something practical I can use. Like my sword. Or my dagger. Of the translated books Nemesis sorted for me last Christmas – now _that_ was a good present. I got a letter from Alex on Christmas day, written in Greek, asking if I was still alive. I had replied that I was alive and well and ready to beat him the moment the summer holidays started. I've got some new tricks up my sleeve, and I'm eager for a worthy opponent to test them out on.

It's been too cold outside for Chara to hunt for a long while now, and I think she's getting tired of being hand fed the mice I've been stealing from the Transifguration's animal stores – not that anyone's realised it's me taking them. She wants to be out there, free again, but I know if she goes out in that cold she won't survive. But being cooped up means she's grouchy. Very grouchy. She'll still talk to me, but only when she has to. I just hope the snow will melt soon and she can go out again.

I walked into the common room after another evening of training in the room of requirement. Daphne's getting a little suspicious again with my story about running outside – after all, running in a blizzard? It's certainly something I'd question. But she hasn't asked about it (yet), and I have no intention of clearing anything up until she does. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Right now, there were more important matters at hand. Like just exactly who is threatening Ginny Weasley and forcing her to open the chamber. I already know they're male, and they must be powerful to be able to almost possess Ginny. That means they're probably an adult. But I couldn't believe that a member of staff would do this. I mean, it might be an older student, maybe one in their last year, but they'd have to be incredibly intelligent, or at least very skilled in certain spells or charms. But something, maybe instinct, is telling me that this is no student. Ginny's become the victim of a very powerful wizard. Even if I found out who they were, I probably couldn't go up against them. If he can do that to Ginny, then surely he could do worse to me. I need to think. I need to narrow it down. Who's an adult, that's powerful, hates muggle-borns, exploits others, is ruthless, and (above all) knows where and how to get into the Chamber of Secrets?

Only one person springs instantly to mind, and he's dead. My father. Lord Voldemort. He fits the description perfectly. Powerful, ruthless, exploitive, and he's an heir of Slytherin, the only other heir of Slytherin as far as I'm aware. But, he's _dead_. I mean, sure, maybe _part_ of him, or his soul, or _something_ managed to connect and merge with Professor Quirrell last year, but Harry stopped him. Harry killed Quirrell.

_But doesn't that make sense?_ I asked myself. _If one part of him found Quirrell, what's to say there aren't more parts out there? What's to say he really_ is _dead?_ No, no. The thought of my father being alive is just… No. It can't be him. Besides, he was living on the other side of Quirrell's _head_. Ginny isn't wearing a turban to hide it, and there's certainly no second face poking out from under those ginger locks. Nor has anyone else in the school been hiding a second face. _What's to say it was a _person_ a part of him found? What if it was something else? _Something else… something else. An object? A plant? I doubt a plant would be very threatening. Probably an object.

I walked up to my room silently, deep in thought. Something tells me I'm thinking on the right lines, it just hasn't clicked yet in my mind. As soon as I entered the room, Tracy, Millicent and Pansy looked up at me from where they were sat. Pansy paled instantly, but I didn't pay attention to her, reaching under my bed, pretending I needed one of my school books. I picked up the first one my hand met and stood, leaving the room without a word. Maybe the room of requirement would be a good place to go, again. I've only just got back, but I'm clearly going to get no peace or privacy here like I would there.

I sighed as I walked back down the dorm stairs, giving Daphne and Draco a little wave as I went. They returned it, although Daphne had that curious look again, like she's wondering what I'm doing. She'll get too curious for her own good someday. But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it too. It looks like I'll be crossing a lot of bridges in my future.

I hurried through the corridors, muttering to myself as I did. It made me feel a little better for some bizarre reason. I hope I'm wrong about this, I really hope I am. I mean, family is everything to me. Mum and dad. It just so happens that my mum is the not-so-friendly Greek Goddess of Revenge and Balance, and my dad is one of the darkest wizards of all time whose name can't even be spoken without everyone in the room being terrified. It just so happens, you know? But, I don't want people to die. I don't want people to be petrified. Not if they don't deserve it. But at the same time I know if it really is dad, I'll have no choice but to do as he says, and if that means leaving his plans alone, then I won't interfere. Loyalty is a complicated thing.

I rounded a corner, walking quickly, still muttering, and crashed into someone with such force that we both fell with an 'ooph'. I shook my head, angry at being disturbed on my way to the room of requirement, and then looked up to see the person I had bumped into doing exactly the same thing. Our eyes met for a brief second before Neville Longbottom looked away, paling and almost trembling. I got to my feet with a scowl.

"I'm sorry," I whimpered.

"Don't worry about it," I growled back, and he whimpered again before hurrying off. I picked up my book and carried on walking quickly, getting up to the room of requirement just before curfew began. I'm going to have to sneak back, but that's something I'm used to. I never get caught.

The room provided me with a comfortable fabric armchair to sit in, but I didn't sit. I put the book on it instead, and paced, thinking. An object…an object. What kind of object would Ginny Weasley be able to carry around, or even just have in her room that wouldn't look suspicious? Quills, robes, parchment, books, those hair things that I never bother with, like headbands and stuff. All fear Lord Voldemort the headband. Yep. Super threatening. So, what else? Hmm, I need to think. Ginny said that he said he'd kill her and her family. 'Said' being the operative word. So the object he's possessing, if he's in any, can communicate. Call me crazy, but I haven't seen many talking objects. In fact, the only talking object I've ever seen is the Sorting Hat, and that stays in Dumbledore's office every day of the year apart from the sorting itself. So, it probably doesn't talk. The only other way of communicating I can think of that isn't speaking (or sign-language, but I doubt Ginny would know how to understand that ever if there was an object that could sign) is by writing. A book, or a quill. It's one of those. It has to be. The only question is, which is it?


	17. The Calm Before The Storm

It was late, going on for curfew. The library was going to close for the evening soon – that was why I was there. It was practically empty. Just me and the librarian. The puzzle of what had been going on with Crabbe and Goyle had been getting to me almost as much as the thought of my father trying to murder every muggle-born in the school was getting to me. It was unusual really, but something told me my time wouldn't be wasted. My curiosity had peaked. Questions needed to be answered. And I'm not the type to wait when I don't have to.

I picked up the restricted section's record book where each name of whoever took a book out and returned one is written. It was difficult to read with my dyslexia, so I took my time. The books names seemed to be incredibly long and complex, and after a while I began to grow agitated. I kept at it though, my curiosity driving me on through the list.

I carried on backwards up the list, going from December through to November. Not many people had taken books out of the restricted section in November – I suppose the teachers wouldn't have wanted the students to be looking into the Chamber right after the attack. But one name recorded on the fifth of November, after I figured out what it was, stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Well well well," I whispered to myself "Hermione Granger, what have you been up to?" The book she had taken out was called '_Moste Potente Potions_', and had been signed for by Professor Lockhart. Interesting. I returned the records book to the librarian who was watching me with her small beady eyes. I smiled at her, just a little mockingly, and then walked off through the corridors.

It was dark, and quiet. Quite a relaxed atmosphere really. An incredibly calm atmosphere. I'm quite calm right now. I'm beginning to think that maybe being calm isn't a good thing – not for the people around me anyway. Because when I'm calm, like how I'm calm now, there's anger slowly seething beneath the surface, just ready to erupt like a volcano, not without violent consequences I would imagine. That's how I feel now. Calm. Dangerously calm.

I could get Lockhart to sign the same book out for me, so I could really get a good look at what they were doing, but (apart from the fact that any interaction with Lokchart is practically unbearable) I don't see much point in it. I've already figured it out, I'm sure. A potion in that book made the three of them look like Crabbe, Goyle and someone else. The question is, who? I found Crabbe and Goyle, who I'm now assuming must have been Harry and Ron, wandering the corridors. Surely Hermione would have been with them then? Unless she went in before they did. I didn't see her at the Christmas feast. Maybe she was already there, already blending in. But who else was with us, unless she was interrogating someone else. I wonder… it's like looking at everyone you know and trying to pick the only traitor among them, the only one who doesn't fit. I don't like traitors.

But I'll deal with it in the morning. Right now I can't do much more than brood, letting my anger slowly boil beneath my skin. My wonderfully calm rage-filled anger. I can ask around, maybe see if anyone was acting weird, or had a similar experience to Crabbe and Goyle – you know, waking up half-naked in a broomstick cupboard without any clue how you got there. It's a little suspicious. Oh, Hermione, I'm a little disappointed with you to be honest. Surely you should have taken these things into consideration? Or did you not realise crossing me would be a mistake? Silly girl. It took a second for it to click, and then I remembered. '_We'd be breaking about fifty school rules. And it would be dangerous. _Very_ dangerous_.' That's what she'd said, after McGonagall had explained about the chamber. Just before I interrupted. Hermione breaking the rules, eh? And coming up with herself, that deceiving little trickster. Well, it wouldn't be right if I were to just stand by and let her break the rules like that, would it now? I mean, I know I break probably that amount of rules every day, not to mention knowing who and where the chamber is and not saying anything, but I'm me. I can get away with things. And _only_ I can do that. It's just one of the perks of being me. What with all the 'bad' stuff, you've got to have perks too, right? It's all about balance.

But anyway, there's nothing I can do about it right now. I'll have to wait until morning to find Hermione and have a little _chat_ with her. For now, I need to get back to the common room before curfew starts and Filch begins his rounds. Not that I'd get caught.

I made my way down into the dungeons and towards the portrait, saying the password clearly, pleasantly and above all, calmly. The portrait swung open and let me into the common room, which under the light of the Lake had dark green shadows cast against the walls, long drawn out shadows in every corner of the room. Quite pretty, I thought.

I saw Daphne sat with Tracy and Draco and walked over to them, plastering a small smile onto my face.

"Hey," I said in greeting, sitting next to Draco on the sofa.

"Hi Midnight," they replied, although I noticed Tracy's wariness.

"Something wrong, Tracy?" I asked.

"No," she said quickly, and I smiled at her a little. "You can't lie to me. What's up?"

"It's nothing," she said with a little nervous laugh.

"If you say so," I said, dropping the subject. I know what she's worried about. She's worried about the way I hit Pansy. She thinks I'll just snap and do the same to her. Well, although I could very easily snap, I'm not likely to be hurting Tracy anytime soon. She's friendly, obedient and knows when to shut up. That makes her ok in my books, at least for now. They returned to whatever conversation they had been having, and at the first opportunity, I causally brought up Christmas night.

"Yeah, Crabbe and Goyle were acting really odd," Draco said with a shrug.

"They were," I nodded in agreement "I mean, were they the only ones? Did you guys notice anyone else acting weird, or was it just them?" I asked. They glanced to each and shrugged.

"Just them I think, I didn't see anyone acting weirdly," Daphne told me and I nodded. So, if no one else had been replaced by this potion Hermione made, and Harry and Ron were Crabbe and Goyle, then were was Hermione? Surely she wouldn't have missed out on this? Unless she was somewhere else. What else would she have been doing? I wouldn't have thought Hermione would have bailed out, especially as it was her idea.

"Why do you ask?" Daphne asked. I shrugged.

"No reason," I answered her calmly. She raised an eyebrow, and then Tracy started a new conversation, and the attention turned to her. After a while I was getting a bit bored, and made my leave, going up to bed, still thinking. Still brooding. Still very very _calm_.

* * *

I watched Midnight turn in for the night, and wondered what was wrong, and who was going to pay for it. I've learned quite a bit about Midnight these last few months. I learned that she can never stay still, lies to everyone, knows most things and can get away with anything.

I also know, that when she's not constantly moving, something's wrong. I've seen it before, the day she nearly spilled Pansy's brains onto the stone floor. She says it's no big deal, she had no intentions of killing her, but if that is true, then I don't want to know what she'd do if she did want to kill someone. I saw it again today, the moment she sat down I noticed. Her feet didn't tap, she didn't rearrange her seating position, she didn't ruffle her hair, and she was smiling. Not happily. It was more a slight smile, a smile that said 'I'm pretending I'm listening, but really I'm not'. And her eyes were dark. Dangerously dark. Something's happened, someone's messed with her, and she's furious. I know her better than she thinks I do, of that I'm sure. She doesn't pay me much attention anyway – quiet, observing Daphne who has nothing better to do than follow her around like a scared little girl. I just hope it's not me who's done anything. I can't think of anything I might have done, but as much as I think I know about her, that's the one thing I don't think I'll ever be able to predict. One minute she's fine, the next she'll be ready to rip off a head. It's oddly brutal even by Slytherin standards. Sometimes I think she's not even human.

I wondered, too, why she was asking about Crabbe and Goyle. What had she seen that we hadn't? What puzzle was she trying to figure out? I'm curious, but at the same time I want nothing to do with it. If it's made her that angry, I don't want to be around when she does something about it.


	18. Betrayal

**It's 8am in the morning! Yay! *cries for a while*. Anyway, last Friday I was on a roll with chapters - I wrote three in one day, which is great for me! And what makes it even more great is that I wasn't very well yesterday and I'm not very well today either, so I didn't get any writing done. But because I had written them already, the update can be on time! Yay!**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy. There will be a few filler chapters, these ones included, as nothing much really happens for a couple of months in the movie or the book save for Lockhart's valentine day in February (which I will do a chapter on) so I hope you'll like those to come. I have been switching perspectives quite a bit recently so if you think I'm not doing a particular character justice then let me know and I'll try to change it as best I can.**

**With that said, enjoy the chapter!**

I got up bright and early the following morning, trained for a while in the Room of Requirement, and then went downstairs to the Great Hall for the very start of breakfast. I didn't eat much, I just waited. Waited for Hermione, Harry and Ron arrive. I was prepared to wait even if it took all morning. Daphne came in after a while and sat next to me – not directly next to me, she left a little gap between us, but not a big enough gap for anyone to sit between.

"So, who are you waiting for?" she asked me casually.

"No one really," I shrugged, my eyes never leaving the Great Hall doors, just waiting for them to walk through. She paused for a moment.

"Well it's no one in Slytherin otherwise you would have cornered them either in the common room or on their way here, so I'm assuming whatever's got you angry has something to do with Potter and his friends?"

"Angry? Why would I be angry?" I asked, but the cold slice in my tone would have been enough. Even if I had said something stupidly pleasant like 'puppies and kittens' it would have sounded positively menacing with the voice I'm using now. "I just need to have a word with someone, that's all."

"You're going to hurt someone again."  
"What did I just say?" I said clearly, not looking at her. She paused again.

"But it is Potter, right?"

"No it's not Harry I need to talk to," I answered her.

"Weasley then," she suggested.

"Not him either."

"So, Granger?"

"Possibly."

"What's goody-two shoes Granger done to wind you up?"

"Nothing, I just need to have a little chat with her."  
"Like you wanted to have a little chat with Pansy?"

"No at all," I answered, glancing to her slightly before looking back to the doors "Granger and Pansy are completely different matters. Like I said, I just want to talk to her."

"Yeah. Right," Daphne said unbelievingly. I don't care whether she believes me or not to be honest. She stood.

"Not eating?" I asked.

"I'm not hungry," she replied sourly, and stalked off. I watched her go through the doors, and then went back to focusing on who was coming through them rather than who was going out. After about five minutes more, Harry and Ron walked through, looking a little stumped. Hermione wasn't with them. They glanced to me, and I gave them a friendly smile before looking away, as if to suggest I hadn't been staring at that exact spot waiting for them, and I had simply glanced up at the right time.

I pretended I was eating, away in my own thoughts, and waited for them to finish. They seemed to take their time, and when they stood again, I waited for a second before standing too and casually walking over to them.

"Morning," I greeted them cheerily.

"Morning Midnight," Harry replied, but Ron was watching me carefully. I smiled at him and then turned back to Harry.

"No Hermione today?"

"No, she's in the library," Harry answered. I nodded.

"Ah, I should have figured as much,"

"What do you want her for?" Ron asked suspiciously. I shrugged.

"I just found an interesting book in the library and wondered if she'd talk me over some of the bits I didn't quite understand. But if she's already there then I guess I'll just head over, see if I can catch her,"  
"You'd better hurry then," Harry said quickly "she said she was going to get some books and study in the common room."

"I'd best get a move on then," I answered with a smile "See you guys later?"

"Yeah, sure. Bye Midnight."

"Bye Harry, Ron," I turned and left, walking with a quick and yet not-too-quick pace up to the library. I stepped in to find it was relatively quiet. Too early in the morning I guess. I looked around, exploring around every corner, but there was no Hermione. I sighed in disappointment. She must have already left. Damn.

I turned and left again, and after walking for a little while, I spotted Professor Snape telling off a group of students further along in the corridor, and an idea sprouted in my mind. I hurried down the corridor, almost breaking into a jog towards the end as Professor Snape turned away from the students, apparently finished berating them.

"Good morning Professor," I said politely.

"Good morning Miss Smith," he answered gravely.

"Professor, I was wondering if you'd sign for permission to borrow a book from the restricted section."

"And which book would that be?" He asked.

"_Moste Potente Potions_," I replied. He watched me for a second, and then nodded. I pulled a piece of parchment and my quill out of my bag and he quickly scribbled a permission slip for me before giving it back.

"Thank you, sir," I said politely, and he nodded before moving off and out of sight. I put my quill away and returned to the library, handing the permission slip to the librarian, who gave me a small suspicious glare, her signature facial expression, and disappeared to fetch it for me. She returned a few moments later and signed it out to me. I slipped it into my bag, gave her a smile, and then left. Hermione has to come out of the common room at some point, right? And when she does, I'll be waiting.

* * *

"What's goody-two shoes Granger done to wind you up?" I asked Midnight as I sat with her at breakfast, having barely touched my food.

"Nothing, I just need to have a little chat with her." She replied in that cold, near-deadly voice.  
"Like you wanted to have a little chat with Pansy?"

"No at all," she answered, glancing to me before looking back to the doors, staring at them like a predator just waiting for its prey to make its appearance. "Granger and Pansy are completely different matters. Like I said, I just want to talk to her."

"Yeah. Right," I replied disbelievingly. Midnight didn't seem to care. I suddenly felt very sick being next to her, and stood.

"Not eating?" she asked me.

"I'm not hungry," I replied, trying to cover up my fear with a moody tone. I picked up my bag and hurried off out of the Great Hall. I found myself going right, breathing a little heavily before I paused and leant against the wall, ruffling my hair and calming myself. Granger's done something. I don't care what it was, to be honest, but she's in danger. Even if it is Granger, I don't know if I can really just stand by and do nothing when I know what's going to happen if I don't do something. But if I try, and Midnight finds out… I shudder involuntarily, and at that moment notice Potter and Weasley walk by, on their way to the Great Hall.

Impulsively, I dodged out. I didn't even think. In hindsight, I probably should have done.

"Potter! Weasley!" They turned to me, and frowned.

"What do you want?" Weasley asked sourly.

"Granger's not with you?"

"No, she's not" Harry asked suspiciously "Daphne, isn't it?"

"Yeah, whatever. Listen, if Midnight asks, don't tell her where Granger is."

"What? Why?"

"Just _don't_. Ok?" I paused and sighed, frustrated at their clueless expressions. "Listen, I know you have no reason to believe anything I say, but _please_ just this one time, trust me. Don't tell Midnight where Hermione Granger is." I paused and looked around, making sure no one else had heard.

"And if she, or anyone else asks," I added "you didn't hear that from me. You never saw me. You don't even know my name. Alright?"

"What are you talking about?" Potter asked, his eyebrows furrowing underneath that legendary scar. I turned without another word and hurried off.

* * *

"What are you talking about?" I asked Daphne, but she didn't reply, just turned and hurried off.

"What was that all about?" Ron asked as we both watched the spot where she had been stood.

"I have no idea."

"We can't trust her, can we?"

"I don't know… she looked… odd."

"She looked _scared_," Ron said suddenly, as if the expression had suddenly clicked in his head, and in that instant, it clicked in mine.

"You're right, Ron," I said.

"Well don't sound so surprised," he rolled his eyes at me, and then frowned again.

"Why would Midnight ask in the first place?"

"I don't know. Maybe they were talking about us."

"So, what do we do?" Ron asked, and I focused for a second more on where the Slytherin girl had been standing before I replied.

"I don't think we should tell Midnight that Hermione's in the hospital wing." I said eventually. Ron nodded.

"You don't think she knows, do you? You know, about _Christmas_?" Ron said it like it was a code word, and I shook my head.

"No, I don't. But Hermione could do without visitors now anyway."

"Yeah," Ron nodded, and we carried on in the Great Hall. The moment we walked in I saw Midnight watching us. She smiled at us, and then looked away, and I almost thought it was a coincidence. Almost.

We sat down opposite each other, and ate slowly (or I ate slowly and Ron just ate more). Every few minutes one of us would glance across at the Slytherin table, mostly Ron as he was facing that way.

"She still watching us?" I whispered. He nodded subtly, which was quite surprising for Ron. Subtlety isn't exactly his strong point. Eating however…

Eventually we stood, not able to waste any more time, and the moment we stood, she stood. She had definitely been waiting for us. She stopped us just before we got to the doors.

" Morning," she said cheerily. A little too cheerily.

"Morning Midnight," I replied in a friendly tone, as friendly as I could, not wanting to sound suspicious. She smiled at Ron, and then turned back to me. We waited.

"No Hermione today?" And there it was. If it hadn't been for that Daphne girl earlier, I probably wouldn't have thought anything of it. But now I did. Why did she want to know where Hermione was?

"No, she's in the library," I answered. It sounded plausible enough, I mean, Hermione's _always_ in the library.

"Ah, I should have figured as much," Midnight replied with a light sigh.

"What do you want her for?" Ron asked suspiciously. See what I mean about subtlety? Not a strong point. She shrugged.

"I just found an interesting book in the library and wondered if she'd talk me over some of the bits I didn't quite understand. But if she's already there then I guess I'll just head over, see if I can catch her,"  
"You'd better hurry then," I said quickly "she said she was going to get some books and study in the common room." I didn't know why I was still talking. I should have just shut up.

"I'd best get a move on then," she answered with a smile "See you guys later?"

"Yeah, sure. Bye Midnight."

"Bye Harry, Ron." She turned and left them without another word, walking quickly. As soon as she was gone, Ron and I looked at each other.

"An interesting book?" I questioned.

"She's lying," Ron said immediately.

"Well, we don't know that," I tried, but even I was doubtful, and I think Ron knew it just from the tone of my voice. We both paused for a moment, not saying anything.

"Maybe one of us should stay in the hospital wing with her, just for today. And then if she is telling the truth and she finds out where Hermione really is, we'll know."

"Yeah, good idea." Ron agreed "Only we should probably both stay. Just in case."  
"Just in case," I nodded in agreement, and we set off to get some books to take with us to the hospital wing. I don't know what to think of Midnight anymore. I've been wondering about it ever since we got out of the Slytherin common room and back to the second floor girls bathroom safely. She seemed so confident, and yet quite harsh too in there, but out here she's friendly (for the most part), and she sounds like she cares, at least a little bit.

My thoughts keep going back to the cookie she gave me for Christmas last year. I don't know whether I've gotten a consequence from it yet, and that worries me a little. Although I'm beginning to wonder if this is the consequence. If, by breaking that cookie, by defeating Quirrell, and hence Lord Voldemort, have I changed Midnight? Is that my punishment? That she's no longer my friend? Or is it more complicated than that? Maybe it changed her somehow, and now I have to watch as she loses all her friends, us included, and becomes lonely and sad and know that it's my fault. I don't know. And what's even scarier – I don't know if I want to know.

Ron stopped walked, and I noticed that I'd dropped behind.

"You alright, Harry?" He asked. I smiled at him a little.

"Yeah. I'm fine."


	19. The Hospital Wing

By the second day, I was suspicious. By the third I was certain. Something was going on. Someone had said something to them. Hermione hadn't come in for any meal, not _one_. I hadn't seen her at all in the corridors, she wasn't in any of the classes, and Harry and Ron stuck by their story that she was just busy in the library. By the third day, when my frustration was near level with my anger, I concluded she must be in the hospital wing – that's the only way she could have gotten away with missing so many lessons. It's not like Hermione to miss any lesson at all, never mind 3 days of lessons, so I guessed whatever had put her there wasn't voluntary. Now, that sounded like a perfect opportunity – the only problem was Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let me in.

I sat in the common room, lips pursed into a think line, anger practically bubbling under my skin. I wanted to do this well, subtly. People are scared of someone who can erupt, someone who's violent, does it blatantly in front of everyone, someone who just loses it completely. They're even more scared of someone who's subtle about it. Someone who threatens, builds up to it, someone almost psychotic by nature, who just gives them that crazy grin that says 'one more move and you're dead' and know that they mean it. Because then it lasts longer. I hit Pansy (not only as it felt good for me to finally let off some of my anger) but because subtlety wasn't her thing. She was too cocky for it, too ignorant. She wouldn't have realised my seriousness. So I had to show her I was serious. Hermione, however, is a sensible girl. She'll know to take me seriously.

So, there are now three things I have to worry about. Number one: What object might my murderous father be possessing that can communicate with Ginny Weasley to get her to open the chamber? Number two: How do I get to Hermione Granger before tomorrow morning (because I can't wait much longer with this boiling under my surface). And finally, number three: Who's the traitor in our midst that warned them about my intentions?

That last one, the most recent addition to my list, is one that particularly has me wondering. There are very few people who might have seen me and realised I was angry. In fact, there are only two people. Draco and Daphne. Now on the one hand, he was the first Slytherin student I met, and I live with him, so he might know me a bit better than I think. On the other, Draco hates Harry, Ron and Hermione. I mean, he even said he'd like the monster to kill Hermione. So, unfortunate as it is, I feel like ruling him off my tiny list of potential traitors. But of course, that only leaves one person. A little bit of me is surprised. Most of me isn't. I've known her for over a year, she's around me a lot of the time, we share a dorm. And she was the first one who realised my intentions for dealing with Pansy. She was also the first, and possibly the only one who realised my intentions for Hermione. In fact, she's the only one who guessed it was Hermione – Draco didn't even ask, whether he knew I was angry or not. I'm almost a hundred percent certain it was Daphne. And that makes me a little sad. She was sort of a friend, not that I really need friends, and I had assumed a little bit of loyalty. I guess I should never assume loyalty. The only people I'm loyal to are my mother and father: if it was them of Daphne, I'd pick them. And now, with her messing with my plans, I'm afraid that's most certainly the case. And actions like that can't go unpunished. Everything had consequences. Everything.

I sat next to her that evening at dinner, acted as normal as possible. I didn't watch the doors like I had the past two days, and I talked with her when she began conversation. It was a very normal interaction, and yet I let her know I was still furious. I don't want her to get even more suspicious. I'll deal with her later.

After that I disappeared to the Room of Requirement to train. Chara watched me as I did, realised my anger, and encouraged it. She talked while I trained, egged me on, grew my confidence as I slashed and stabbed, kicked and listened to the satisfying crunch of metal against wood. I worked off a little of my anger in the hours I was there, but only a little. Just enough, in fact, to bring it down to a level where when I confront Hermione, my frustration and fury won't mess anything up.

Chara and I sat for a while as I waited for curfew to start, and I stroked her head gently as she rested it on my lap. Eventually I stood, picked up my bag, and left Chara in the room. The weather's getting a little better, but word is there's another blizzard on the way. Whether it'll happen or not I don't know, but Chara won't like it if it does.

I slipped through the corridors like a ghost, completely silent, perfectly calm. Madam Pomfrey will have gone to bed just after curfew, like the rest of the staff, Filch being the only exception, and he never catches me.

I made my way down to the hospital wing. The doors were closed, as I'd thought they would be. The door handle was cold as I put my hand on it, opening the door quietly. It opened without a sound, the room inside relatively dark, save for the silver moonlight shining through the windows. None of the beds were occupied, save for one. The curtains were pulled around the bed, obstructing the patient from view. I walked in as quiet as I could, but my footsteps echoed on the stone floor eerily.

I saw my silhouette rise on the curtains as I reached out my hand slowly pulling them back. My shadow fell from the opened curtains across her bed as I stepped inside, the curtain closing behind me. I pulled out my wand.

"_Incendio_," I muttered, pointing at the candle by her bedside. The wick lit a small flame, illuminating the rectangle the closed curtains created. Hermione was sleeping, at least I thought it was Hermione. Her hands, laid out over her stomach, were slightly furry, a little like paws. He face was covered in it in too, like a newborn duckling is covered in down. She had whiskers and her ears were triangular and pointed. If I didn't know better, I'd say she looked like a cat.

Now I understand why she wasn't with Ron and Harry in our common room – her potion went wrong. The polyjuice potion I think it is after looking through this book over the past two days. The last bit, where you add the hair of the person you want to become, she must have gone wrong there if Harry and Ron were alright. I wonder who she was trying to turn into.

I sat down at the chair by her bedside and put my bag on the floor, brining the book, _Moste Potente Potions_, out of my bag and settling it on my lap, opening it to the page with the polyjuice potion. I waited for a little while, and then she began to stir, the light from the candle probably disturbing her.

She turned away from me, and raised her head before tilting it slightly – she was looking at the candle.

"Good evening Hermione," I said with a clear of my throat. She rolled around instantly and stared at me.

"Midnight, what are you doing here?" she asked. I shrugged.

"Killing time," I replied with a smile that was far off psychotic.

"No, I mean what are you doing _here_? Madam Pomfrey wasn't letting anyone in,"

"Oh I noticed. That's why I waited until she had gone to bed."

"Gone to bed? What time is it?"

"Well after curfew," I replied. She glanced to my lap where the book lay open.

"What's that?" she asked.

"This? Oh, this is why I needed to see you. It's a really interesting book, one I'm sure you've heard of. There's this really cool potion in it, but I guess you've heard of that too. The 'polyjuice potion' I think it's pronounced." Even under the layer of down I could see her paling. I smiled at her.

"So you have heard of it?"

"Um, no. No I haven't."

"Really? That's peculiar. Because I was in the library the other day and I found that you got this book out back in November. Out of the restricted section. Weird coincidence, right?"

"Right," she said weakly.

"Ah, but then I was thinking: weren't Crabbe and Goyle acting really odd on Christmas night? And then this really weird thing happened – they woke up the next morning in a broomstick closet. Isn't that bizarre? It was if someone had deliberately put them there so they wouldn't be found. Oh and let's not forget that someone had taken their robes, and pulled out some of their hair. Strange, right?"

"Yeah, strange," she sounded ill now, and I noticed she was shaking a little. I smiled at her again and closed the book.

"So who were you trying to be?" I asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Please don't take me for a fool, Hermione. You'll regret it." I said darkly, and then brightened again. Oh yes, I like this game. "But, you're not well, so I'll forgive that this one time. Now, Harry and Ron were Crabbe and Goyle, but I couldn't figure out who you were trying to be. Obviously it went wrong when you added the hairs. So, tell me, who were you trying to be?" She didn't say anything and after a few moments of silence I leant back in my chair with a frown. "Well, that _is_ disappointing."

"It was Millicent," she muttered quietly "Millicent Bullstrode."

"Really?" I said with a grin, sitting forwards again "Well I guess it's a good thing you didn't go then – I would have known straight away it wasn't her. She went home for Christmas." Hermione didn't say anything to this.

"I do wonder what you wanted from us" I mused "I guess information, but information on what I wasn't sure. I have plenty of possibilities of course, the first one being it was about the Chamber of Secrets, as you'd never even contemplate _asking_ me about that," she shook more then, and turned her head away slightly, although she was still watching me carefully. I noticed her eyes were amber. "So it was the Chamber then? Yeah? I thought as much." A little of my anger slipped then as I narrowed my eyes. "But what gives you the right? Hmm? What gives you the right to come into our common room and try to trick _me_ with some dumb potion?" I reigned in the anger in a little and sat back, glowering. "But of course you'd use a potion, because you wouldn't _ask_."

"Harry might trust you," she suddenly said bravely (but stupidly) "but I don't. Certainly after tonight I'd never trust you." I barked a little laugh, and then was mindful about being silent – I don't want to be caught, not now.

"It would be the one good move you've made in this whole situation, Hermione Granger." She looked even more fearful then. "You know why I can't be trusted? Because I can lie. I'm very good at lying. I could lie for England if I wanted to. Let me show you: if I said I have en elephant under my hat, you'd know I was lying. Because 'a': an elephant would never fit under a hat, and 'b': because I don't have a hat. But if I said I've locked the hospital wing doors and that no one would hear you scream, would you know if I was telling the truth or would I be lying?" I gave her that psychotic grin. That one is kind of a mish-mash of truth and lie – I haven't locked the hospital wing doors, but no one would hear her scream, because there wouldn't be time for her to scream.

She looked terrified now. On the verge of absolute terror. I bet she thought she was going to die. Well, she's not. I'm not going to hurt her. Not physically anyway.

I suddenly lunged forwards and pressed my arm against her neck, covering her mouth with my hand. I'm not pressing hard on her neck, not hard enough to cut off her air flow or anything like that, just enough to hold her down.

"Try and trick me again and you'll know the meaning of the word _pain_, Granger," I snarled "And if you tell anyone about this I'll rip out your tongue," I like that threat. It's grizzly. "And don't think I won't be able to get to you. I know every common room password and I can look like whoever I want. You wouldn't even see me coming." Another lie, I don't know anyone's passwords but our own Slytherin password at the moment, but she doesn't have to know that. "There will be no place where I cannot find you." I took my hands away then, and she gasped for air even though I hadn't been pressing that hard. Or maybe I was – I am quite strong. I've very strong for my age.

"You're insane," she wheezed. I grinned at her and put a finger to my mouth.

"Shh, that'll be our little secret." I picked up my bag and the book, which had fallen off my lap when I lunged. I grinned at her again. "See you later, Granger." I turned, and I left.

One problem down. Two more to go.


	20. Daphne

**Hello :) Ok, I just thought I'd give you guys a heads up before you start reading: this chapter is entirely from Daphne's point of view. No Midnight P.O.V. at all, which si a bit different I know, but I hope you ike it anyway. The response to the last chapter was one of the best yet! Thank you guys so much, I love hearing what you think about this story :)**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

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I walked into the common room after dinner and spotted Pansy, Tracy and Millicent sat on one of the sofas, speaking quietly to each other. I took a deep breath and walked over. At the start of the year I had been scared that Pansy would bully my sister, but now I'm more scared of Midnight killing someone. My sister will get into Slytherin, and what will happen then? She accidentally does something that pushes one of Midnight's buttons, and ends up with a broken arm? Pansy's a bully, but I'm starting to think that's the least of my problems.

It's been four days since I warned Potter and Weasley about her, it's only a matter of time before she figures it out. And then I'm dead. I don't know why I'm finding myself walking in Pansy's direction. I know what Midnight did to her physically, but it seems more than that. Pansy isn't herself anymore. She's quiet, withdrawn, panicky. She jumps at every sound, and as soon as Midnight walks in the room…

The three of them watched me as I approached nervously.

"Can I talk to you for a second Pansy? Alone?" I asked. She looked behind me, looking for Midnight, and when she didn't see her, she nodded. Tracy and Millicent stood, walking away and muttering between themselves. I moved forwards and sat down on the sofa opposite her. She watched me silently.

"What do you want?" she asked, and there was a tinge of the old Pansy's sharp, annoyed tone. Only a tinge though.

"It's Midnight," Pansy paled at her name. In Merlin's name what did she _do_ to her? "She – I've, I've messed with one of her plans. I, I'm next." There was silence for a moment.

"I can't help you," Pansy whispered. "No one can help you." I paled.

"No, she's done this before. Maybe if she's going to do to me what she did to you-"

"You don't want that to happen. Trust me," Pansy interrupted quietly, her voice barely audible.

"Of course I don't _want_ it to happen, but it might. Please, if you tell me what to expect-"

"What to expect?" Her eyes met mine for a second, and they were insulted, but at the same time terrified. "You can expect fear, a lot of fear. She's a metamorphmagus, remember? She can literally become your worst nightmare. And pain, expect so much pain you think you're going to die. And you can expect-" she paused suddenly, as if remembering something, and her mouth snapped shut.

"I can't say anymore," she muttered.

"Why not?"  
"I just can't. If what happened to me, happens to you, you'll know why."

"But-"

"Good luck, Greengrass. You're going to need it." She began to stand.

"Wait." I said sharply, and she paused before sitting again.

"What?"  
"Is these anything I can do to avoid it?" I asked. She thought about it for a moment.

"She wants it to be done her way. Don't let her. Kick up a fuss. Scream if you have to. You'll avoid it, but when she comes next time it'll only be worse. That much I think I can pretty much guarantee." She paused, and then stood again and followed the route away from the sofas that Millicent and Tracy had taken. I didn't realise I was shaking until I looked at my hands and saw them. I tried to steady myself, taking a deep, long breath and brushing my hair back.

I stood and then sat again, my eyes wandering to the common room door. I can't sit here and wait until she walks in. I just can't. Maybe I can hide somewhere in the dorm, or pretend to be asleep. I could lock myself in the bathroom. I could sleep in the bathtub or on the floor until morning, and then when everyone goes to class I can come out again. _Yeah, except tomorrow's Saturday idiot_. Oh…

The common room door opened, and I didn't even realise that I was already standing and practically sprinting to the bottom of the dorm stairs. Before I knew it I had slammed our dorm room door shut behind me. I leant back against it, breathing heavily, my knees weak. Why did I ever open my damn mouth?

I tried to stand and then moved to the bathroom to wash the beads of sweat off my face. I glanced at myself in the mirror, and saw myself. There were large dark bags under my eyes, my skin was deathly pale, my hair scraggly and eyes wide. I looked a mess. A cowardly, pathetic mess.

I stood straight then. I am a member of the Greengrass family, an honourable pure-blood household. I will not be threatened, and I will not be a coward. I will tell Midnight exactly what I think of I think of her and I will end this miserable excuse of a friendship. Maybe the shock will make her stop… or maybe she'll punch me harder.

I stayed in the bathroom for a while, trying to listen to hear if she was coming up the stairs or not. I didn't hear her, and after a few moments of internal debate, I took a deep breath and opened the door. Then I screamed.

Midnight was stood there, eyebrow raised.

"You alright?"

"Uh, yeah, you just surprised me." I said, trying to recover. We stood nearly nose to nose for a second before Midnight's eyebrow went higher.

"Well are you done in the bathroom yet or not?" she asked.

"What?" I responded, mouth dry.

"I need to use the bathroom. Can you move?"

"Oh, right, yeah." I said dumbly, and moved out of the way. She rolled her eyes at me, and went to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. For a second there I thought that was it… Merlin. I need to go downstairs, get in a crowd. She won't be able to hurt me then. _What happened to dumping the friendship and not being a coward?_ There's time not to be a coward later.

I hurried downstairs and joined Draco, Crabbe and Goyle on the sofas. A few minutes later, Midnight came back downstairs and sat next to me. She half ignored me, tapped her feet, ruffled her hair, and talked when it was deemed necessary to talk. She seems pretty relaxed, but not the furious calm I saw her with yesterday and the three days before that. Oh no… she got to Granger. She figured out where Granger was, and she did something. That's why she's relaxed, she's worked it out of her system, probably using Granger's face as a punching bag. What if Potter and Weasley told her by mistake, or even on purpose not realising what they were doing. What if they told her what I said… But she doesn't seem angry. Is she hiding it? Maybe she's even faking being relaxed so I'll let my guard down, and then she can get to me when I least expect it. That sounds like her kind of 'style'.

But she didn't do anything. Laughed occasionally, spoke occasionally, tapped her feet a lot and watched with a glazed bored expression most of the time. Pretty normal. Maybe she doesn't know it was me. Maybe she thinks it's someone else. Maybe, because we're supposed to be friends, she doesn't think I'd do that to her. Maybe. I hope so.

I wasn't any more relaxed by the time Midnight stood to go to bed. It wasn't even curfew time but she was going anyway. Usually she's out by now, and only comes back to the common room after curfew. I tried to wait as long as possible, but being paranoid and fearing for your life is draining, and I could feel my eyelids drooping. I couldn't see Pansy, Millicent or Tracy anywhere, and assumed they'd already gone upstairs. As long as we're not alone, Midnight and I, I guess it's ok to go to bed. But what if she does something while I'm asleep? No, anything but _that_. Imagine waking up to the feeling of half your skull being ripped from your face. Nope nope nope I am going to have _so_ many nightmares tonight if I keep putting these images in my head.

I walked up the dorm stairs, shaking my head as I did so in an ineffective way of getting said images out of my head, and walked into our dorm. I reached my bed before I noticed all the other beds were empty. Even Midnight's. I turned around as she was just shutting the door behind me. _Well, I'm screwed._

"Oh hi Midnight. I thought you'd gone to bed already."

"Yeah, but you know I'm a light sleeper," she shrugged. I do know that, yes. She is a very light sleeper. She's also a very hard puncher from what I've heard and seen and guessed and oh my god I am so dead.

She was smiling at me, a little sadly.

"Why are you looking so scared, Daphne?" she asked me.

"Scared?" I gulped, almost comically, "Well, you can be pretty scary." She laughed.

"Me? I'm not scary. Pansy's face with no make up is scary. Me, I'm _terrifying_."

"Yeah, I was worried you were going to say that." She grinned, then smirked and then laughed a little. She's also blocking my only escape route – the only door. I cloud always run into the bathroom and lock it behind me, but it wouldn't take her long to break it down. And even if she couldn't, it's Saturday tomorrow. She could starve me out if she wanted to.

"I know it was you," she said finally, almost sounding disappointed. I froze a little, although I was expecting it by now. She sighed then. "But I can't get my head around why you did it."

"You were going to ruin your own plans with your anger," I answered "You were going to do to Granger what you did to Pansy, and then no Gryffindor would ever trust you again."

"Who needs trust?" she scoffed "I could look like anyone in the school, be anyone in the school. I don't need their trust." She paused. "And anyway, I told you I just wanted to talk to Hermione."  
"That's what you said with Pansy."  
"Yeah, only you made it a lot more difficult for me this time around."

"Good," I answered strongly, telling myself I'm an idiot. I thought that was it for me then, I was done for. But she laughed. She laughed a genuine sounding laugh.

"That's great!" she grinned when she'd finished. "See that was why I liked you. That bit of attitude right there," her grin faded slowly. "But then you had to go and ruin it."

"You were hurting people."  
"I didn't punch Granger." My mouth dried.

"What?"  
"I didn't punch her. It was like I said: I only talked. A little threatening was done, a little peer pressure, a little scaring. Nothing more."

"But… but you were-"

"Fed up of over a year of finicky bullying and rumour spreading from Pansy Parkinson. She crossed the line, she paid for it. With Hermione that wasn't the case. She just tried to pull wool over my eyes, and I saw through it. There was no need for any violence." She paused "Well, any more than a few grizzly threats."

"What kind of threats?" I asked, sickened yet curious. She hasn't hit me yet. She hasn't even moved towards me. She's just stood there. Just stood there. I can hardly believe it.

"Same one I gave to Pansy, and the same one I'll give to you: tell anyone _anything_ about any of this," she gestured around her, and I understood that by 'this' she meant the crueller, more violent side of herself. "and I'll rip out your tongue." I paled at her grin and deadly serious tone.

"Watch your back, Daphne," she smiled "I mean, accidents happen all the time. We wouldn't want to happen to you now, would we?"


	21. The Diary Of TMR

**It's late, I know, I'm sorry. I've had a very tiring very busy past four days and didn't have time to do any writing at all. I hope you guys can forgive me and enjoy the chapter (especially as it's an exciting one!)**

**Enjoy!**

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The night I confronted Daphne, I had been half convinced that she was going to pass out, and I hadn't even touched her. I had thought about punching her, but she looked so scared already it was funny. I didn't see any reason to hit her. Although I did threaten her with the tongue threat – I think after that it is officially my favourite threat. I'm going to use it all the time. Like a signature. My signature threat.

It's now the end of January, and I think it's time to confront Ginny Weasley. I'm fairly certain that my father is the one behind this, however much I don't want it to be. I'm torn between a quill or a book as the object that's been threatening and possessing her. I'm going to get her to tell me which one it is. I need to be sure.

I walked down the corridor by myself – as of late no one seems to want to talk to me, which is fine. I don't want to talk to them either. Daphne sits as far away from me as possible, I've barely seen Ron and Harry, and as far as I'm aware Hermione isn't out of the hospital wing yet. For all I know she might be prolonging her 'situation' in order to stay there so she doesn't have to see me. I think Draco's noticed Daphne isn't really talking to me, but he hasn't said anything. I still sit around him, Crabbe and Goyle in the common room, but Daphne's kind of gravitated towards Pansy now. It's a shame, but not one I caused. She severed any ties between us when she warned Harry and Ron of my intentions, possibly putting everything I've worked for at risk. Not that I'm even sure what I want to achieve. I seem to be just making everything more difficult for myself by making 'friends' and such. But I've done it anyway, because sometimes it's fun. It's fun to get information, fun to pretend, fun to tease and scare and fight. That's why I made 'friends' I guess – to exploit them later. Although I guess Harry would be the only one left I could even call a remote friend. Draco's alright, but he's more like an annoying little brother.

The red hair of Susan Bones crossing the corridor takes my thoughts back to Ginny. The last time it didn't go exactly the way I expected, it was more luck than anything. And luck runs out. I have to get her to meet me somewhere. There's a charms catch up session starting soon. I could maybe have a look in, see if she's there. She tends to go to most catch-ups, maybe because she learns so little in class with all the stress of opening the chamber. I almost feel sorry for her. And then I think about how silly she is to get herself involved in that situation in the first place, and I shrug the feeling off.

If she's not there, I'll have to try to get into the common room like last time. Maybe I could even get a first year to tell me the password if I pretended to be one of them; and used my charm speak of course. It would still be risky though, what if the person I pretended to be, like the girl called Abby from before, was already with Ginny? That would be an awkward conversation. But I'm in second year and she (and all the people I've seen her with regularly) is in first year. I know more spells than her, and I can always scare her into not saying anything. It's just risky. I don't like it. And yet at the same time, I know I'll do it, if it needs to be done. I've got away with risks before.

I walked through the corridor, running my fingers along the rough stone wall and still walking while no one was around, I felt myself shrink slightly, hair going from black to blonde, face shape changing, eyes wider to form innocent big blue orbs. My robes got bigger on me, so I looked a little dwarfed in them, but that only made me look more of the part. Most first years do look quite dwarfed by their uniforms, probably so their parents don't have to buy a second set next year. By the time I reached the corner of the corridor and a set of people passed me, I was a tiny, innocent-looking first year with bouncy blonde curls and rosy cheeks. Who would ever know it was me?

I cheerily rounded the corner and walked towards the charms room. It was already getting dark outside, but I was fine with that. I like the dark. It's concealing, comforting. It's also great for hiding in.

The door to Professor Flitwick's room was wide open, so I peered around, pretending to be nervous. In truth, I was a little bit. It would be just my luck if Ginny wasn't here, but I got hauled in to work anyway. And then I'd have to go and find her later, and it would take forever and be a massive failure.

My eyes peered around the door, and I quickly scanned the room, my eyes landing on a wave of red hair and long Gryffindor robes. I walked into view, and then into the classroom. Ginny was sat alone, at the far end of one table. I walked quietly along, no one really paying me much attention, and sat next to her. She glanced up at me. She looked even worse than before, paler, and more solemn. I wonder if another attack is being planned.

She looked me up and down, and then her eyes fell on the Slytherin crest on my robes, and her face went slightly paler, as if it were possible, before she looked away. I said nothing, but got out some parchment and my quill and then scrawled notes on the lecture Professor Flitwick was giving, mostly for show as it was all first-year stuff I knew already.

During a period of loud chatter while groups discussed their notes and practised their spells, I began to talk.

"Hello again, Ginny," I said to her pleasantly, but quietly. I don't want anyone overhearing.

"We've never met," she responded sourly. I smiled a little.

"Yes we have, remember? I looked a little different, I'll admit, but we had a very interesting conversation, all about the Chamber of Secrets." She looked at me then. "You remember, don't you?"  
"What do you want?" she asked, voice wavering.

"Well, I think I've figured it out, but I need to be sure," I answered mysteriously "I've narrowed it down to two options." I watched her carefully, my observational skills put heavily to work. "It's either a quill," I said slowly, carefully "or a book." There. That one. The slight flicker of the eyes, the shiver in the fingers resting on the table. It's a book. I smiled a little.

"I need to have a look at it."

"I'm not giving it to anyone."

"Ginny, remember how I said I can help you? How you can help yourself? You need to give me that book."  
"No, he'll kill me." She whispered, and I knew she was doing her best not to burst into tears.

"I can get rid of him for you," I lied. If it is my father, I'm giving the book straight back to her, to let him finish what he started.

"No one can get rid of him."  
"I could."  
"No you couldn't."  
"Ginny," I said, getting irritated "give me the book. That's not a request." She looked to me, fearful, and for a moment I thought she forgot where she was and was considering running away, and then she remembered, and dropped her head, reaching to her bag and pulling out a small black book with golden corners. She handed it to me reluctantly.

"Ignore anything he tells you about me," she said "I'm only giving it to you because you already sound like you know everything. You don't need that to be able to tell everyone."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," I said, taking it from her and looking at it. It was a diary. I opened the first page, but all it said was 'Diary' in fancy writing. Flicked through the old parchment pages, but they were all empty. I turned it over, and all that was there were the words 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' in the same gold colour as the corners, at the bottom of the page.

"I started writing in it," she whispered to me, her eyes fixed on the book "It just appeared in my cauldron one day before we got to Hogwarts. And when I wrote in it, he wrote back. He understood everything about me. And then he started to get mean, and I started forgetting where I was sometimes, what I had been doing. That's when the chamber first opened." She paused, and then tore her gaze away from the book to me.

"If you start talking to him, he'll do it to you too."

"No he won't."

"Why not?"  
"Because I'm smart enough not to give away anything important." I responded. She glared at me a little.

"Tell anyone…"

"I won't, don't worry." I rolled my eyes. "Thank you, Ginny. You've been very helpful."

"Be careful. And don't believe what he says about me… it's not true." She said worriedly. I nodded, and put the book away in my bag, standing and walking out of the charms session, leaving Ginny to herself. It went a lot easier than expected, I think, probably because we weren't alone. She couldn't run, she couldn't shout. I had the advantage. It was a silly move though, giving it to me, even though I wanted it. I mean, if she suddenly gets scared and wants it back, she has no idea who I am. No way of contacting me unless I get to her first. No wonder he was able to manipulate her so easily.

I thought about where I could be on my own, completely uninterrupted to spend as much time studying this diary as is necessary, and then headed for the Room of Requirement. I stayed in my innocent first year form until I was on the seventh floor. I changed back into myself as I summoned the room, and when the door appeared I walked inside.

The room provided me with a desk and comfortable chair, and I sat down, pulling out my quill, ink and the diary. I flicked through the pages again, and wondered how it worked. There was no record of any past conversations, it just looked like a blank book. Ginny said she wrote in it first, so I guess that's what I should do. It's so curious though. So intriguing. I doubt little Ginny Weasley even thought about how strange and interesting this book is before she wrote in it. But then I guess at the time she thought it was an ordinary diary – claimed but never written in.

I picked up my quill and dipped it in the black ink, and then raised it to the paper, a little nervously.

'Hello' I wrote in my slow, troubled handwriting that practically screamed dyslexia. I watched carefully as my greeting stayed there for a second, before the ink sank into the page and disappeared. I raised an eyebrow. Very interesting. After a second of nothing happening, I began to think I should maybe try again, but then the ink resurfaced – the same word, but very different handwriting.

'_Hello_' the diary responded. The writing was elongated and elegant, someone confident and proud. That sounds like dad alright. After a second, the words disappeared again, but more ink surfaced in its place.

'_Where is Ginny?_' he asked. I bit my lip. I could answer that in so many ways, but most of them would require long teasing words, and it would take forever to write.

'Busy,' I replied lamely 'I need to talk to you.' The diary didn't respond when my ink sank into the book. I waited for a few minutes, and after no more ink resurfaced, I carried on. 'Are you Tom Riddle?' I wrote.

'_Yes_' came the reply a few seconds later.

'I know about the Chamber,' I wrote, trying to avoid being slow 'I know you're using Ginny to open it and attack the muggle-borns.' Again there was no reply. So I carried on again. 'I don't want to stop you. I just need you to answer some questions for me.' There was a pause after the ink sank in, and I began to get nervous.

'_Who are you?_' he asked me.

'I'll answer than when you answer my question.'

'_I'm going to kill you_,'

'Not if you are who I think you are' I responded. There was no reply. I took a deep breathe subconsciously, my hand shaking slightly. 'Are you Lord Voldemort?' There was a pause.

'_You dare write it down. As if I would keep my filthy muggle father's name. You should fear me, for I will kill you and all you love where they stand_' he responded, and the long elegant handwriting had the tinge of a furious scrawl. I dampened my dry lips with my tongue and re-inked my quill. It is him. I'm talking to my dad for the first time. _My dad…_ I'm actually talking to him. And he has a last name. _I_ have a last name. I'm a Riddle. Midnight Riddle.

'You could try, but I don't think you'd manage it' I wrote back hesitantly 'My name is Midnight, and I am your daughter.'


	22. Just Sitting In The U-Bend

The ink sank in, and then none resurfaced.

'I knew it was you when they told me only an heir of Slytherin could open the chamber. That left only me and you. It took me a while to find you though.' My own writing had become even more scrawled; even with my dyslexia I could tell it was barely legible.

'_I have no children_' he wrote back eventually.

'Maybe you didn't when you had this diary, but I am your daughter' I replied 'Only your most loyal followers knew I existed. You had me put in a muggle orphanage when you were defeated. I grew up there.'

'_I would never condemn any child of mine to such a miserable life_' he responded.

'You told them it would be the last place anyone would look for me.' I felt slightly giddy, almost elated. I'm actually talking to him! My dad! But he doesn't remember me… I guess he wouldn't really have kept a diary when he was an adult. How does this work?

'How old are you?' I asked.

'_Seventeen_,' he replied '_Ginny Weasley told me about my triumphs in later life, and how I was thwarted by that toddler brat_'

'Harry?' I replied 'I've been keeping an eye on him ever since I first got to Hogwarts. He's in my year.' I paused 'He thinks we're friends, but no one knows my real identity.'

'_You're close to him?_'

'When I need to be.' I responded slyly.

'_I would very much like to meet him._'

'Really?' I frowned, and then reluctantly wrote 'I can take you to him. But you mustn't say anything about me – he can't know who I am, or the whole school will know and my cover will be blown.'

'_Not a word of your existence will leave my lips_' he replied.

'That means no writing about me either.'

'_You're a clever one. Alright. If you really are my daughter, I'll leave you to yourself. Just get me to Harry Potter_.' I sighed.

'He'll be with you by noon tomorrow.'

* * *

I sighed. Despite everything I didn't expect that although I 'talked' to him, his attention would be instantly diverted to Harry. I didn't expect it, but I understand it. Revenge is a consuming thing, especially for someone who doesn't understand it as Nemesis and I do. It's a slippery slope, but a fun one to ride.

I had promised that I would get the diary to Harry, but I wasn't exactly sure how I would do it. I can't just hand it over – if something goes wrong he could make a connection between me and Tom Riddle. It still sounds weird – to think that the all feared Lord Voldemort was once just a-near-enough average student, with an average name and maybe even average aspirations. Talking to his seventeen year old self is a surreal experience.

Handing Harry the diary is out of the question. I need to think of a way of doing it that won't leave any connection between us, or even any possibilities of a connection. I need to be there, or at least in the area when it happens so I know Harry's the one with the diary, and it doesn't end up in the wrong hands.

But at the same time I don't want to rely on anyone else giving it to him – you know, if I charmed someone into giving it to him. They'd remember it was me. Or something would go wrong. I just know it would.

I could try to sneak it into his bag, but there's so many risks and problems with that I don't even know where to start. And nothing can go wrong. Not when it comes to this diary. I have to make sure that dad knows I'm loyal, that I can do this. I'm not weak. And if he does succeed… well, until that time comes I'll try not to think about it. It'll either make me sad for Harry, or expectant for the future. And I can't have expectations when it comes to that.

I walked through the second floor corridor, the atmosphere still and quiet. A sudden sharp, loud yell disturbed it, making me look up in curiosity, then I was met with silence again. It came from the girls' bathroom. I raised an eyebrow and walked a little closer, resting my ear against the stone wall. I could hear muffled voices, but couldn't make out what they were saying.

I pulled away, lips pursed in a thin line, the diary feeling heavy in my bag. Who's in there, and why? No one ever goes in there… wait a minute… _no one ever goes in there_. Where would you brew a potion that broke all the school rules and took over a month to make in broad daylight, without getting caught? The only place no one ever goes that everyone knows about! Why didn't I see it before?

The muffled voices suddenly become recognisable as Harry, Ron and Hermione. Hermione must finally have come out of the hospital wing. It'll certainly be interesting to see if she says anything. I might have to make good on that signature threat of mine.

I chuckles softly, and then remembered where I was, and carried on. It'll be noon in about an hour. I told dad, or Tom, that he'd be with Harry by then. I have no intention of disappointing him.

I hung around the second floor until I was sure the trio had gone, and then I walked back up to the bathroom. Everything was quiet, save for a little wispy wailing sound, coming from the u-bend at the back of the bathroom. I waited until Moaning Myrtle was looking away out of the window, and then quickly scurried to the taps and turned them all on to full flow. Myrtle still hadn't turned to look when I pulled the book out of my bag and in one aggressive motion and lobbed it at her head. It struck the target dead on-passing through Myrtle's head, startling her. I was already gone.

* * *

Hermione still doesn't seem well, even though Madam Pomfrey's discharged her. She looks like herself again, but she's a bit pale, a bit jittery. Maybe its just the healing potions wearing off, but I'm not convinced.

We stayed in the second floor girls' bathroom for a while, Myrtle having floated off down one of the toilets, talking about what we found out at Christmas, and just before since we didn't really have any chance to talk properly about it before Hermione was whisked off under my dad's invisibility cloak to the hospital wing.

"It's not Malfoy, and he doesn't know who it is," I told her "his father wouldn't tell him. But, you remember Dobby said that this has happened before? Well that's what Draco said too – fifty years ago."

"He said a girl died the last time," Ron added. Hermione listened in silence.

"So it's not Draco, it's definitely not Crabbe or Goyle, and I don't think it's Midnight either," I concluded.

"You don't?" she asked, looking a little confused – not a look the old Hermione would ever have worn.

"Well, no. She told her friend outright that it wasn't her, and she told Malfoy off when he tried to say…" I paused "well, when he talked about setting the monster on people."

"That doesn't mean it's not her," Hermione protested. I frowned. I thought we'd talked about this already? She saw my face and nearly scowled. "Look, we all saw the sink after she and that other girl came in here. We know she's dangerous."

"Doesn't mean she's the heir of Slytherin," I retorted, not intending it to be harsh, but it somehow seeming that way anyway.

"We get it Harry, alright?" Ron said to me, turning away from Hermione to talk directly to me "You and Midnight are sort of friends. Ok, I understand. But Hermione's right, she is dangerous. You were with me in that common room. Don't tell me you didn't see it." I wanted to talk back, but my voice failed the retort, so I bit it back.

"I just don't think it's her," I eventually muttered "she might not be what we thought she was-"

"You mean what _you_ thought she was," Ron corrected me. I sighed.

"Fine, what _I_ thought she was, but that doesn't mean she's the one attacking the muggle-borns. I mean, Hermione, didn't she defend you last year when Pansy Parknison called you a mud-blood?" Now it was Hermione's time for her voice to falter.

"She's dangerous," Hermione finally insisted "I don't want anything to do with her."

"Finally someone who agrees with me," Ron muttered, more about not wanting to have anything to do with her than her being dangerous, I thought.

"Alright, but I'm sure she's not the one opening the chamber." I insisted quietly. Hermione said nothing, as if she knew more than she was telling. The only problem I had with that theory was that she has no reason not to tell us, no reason not to trust us. None that I know of anyway.

"Come on, we should go. We need to find out about the last time the chamber was opened." Ron suggested, and Hermione nodded. Since when did Ron become the sensible one?

"We need to go to the library."

We left the bathroom and spent the next hour or so in the library, but found nothing, not even in _Hogwarts: A History_. Eventually, Ron and I gave up.

"It's impossible, we're never going to find anything," Ron moaned, the librarian watching us with a close eye.

"You two go, I'll stay here," Hermione told us, too engrossed in the book she was reading to even look at us. She seems better now, maybe spending so much time in the library has made her feel better.

"We'll see you back in the common room," I said, but she didn't answer, back to the research already. Ron and I made our way back through the corridors, but when we reached the second floor, I knew something was wrong, even before we saw the water.

"Yuck!" Ron exclaimed, scrunching his nose up in disgust at the corridor, our shoes already swimming in the thick layer of water.

"Looks like Moaning Myrtle's flooded the bathroom," I said, and then ran ahead, Ron following me quickly. I opened the door and hurried in to see the sinks overflowing, water running down their sides having already filled the small grates beneath them. Myrtle was sat in the u-bend, crying with little hiccupped moans. I pointed to her, and Ron and I walked closer.

"Come to throw something else at me?" she said in a little whimper.

"Why would I throw something at you?" I asked her.

"Don't ask me," she responded "Here I am, minding my own business, when someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me."

"But, it can't hurt if someone throws something at you," Ron said. Ah, normal Ron is back too. "I mean, it'll just go right through you." Myrtle shot up in front of him, her nose barely an inch away from his face as his eyes widened.

"Sure!" she yelled "Let's all throw books at Myrtle because she can't feel it. Ten points if you get it through her stomach-" she punched Ron in the stomach, only her arm went right through him. "-fifty points if it goes through her head!" she punched him again, this time through the head before withdrawing slightly.

"But who threw it at you anyway?" I asked, trying to draw her attention away from Ron, amongst other things.

"I don't know," she answered "I didn't see them. I was just sitting in the u-bend thinking about death, when it fell through the top of my head." Her face crumpled a little, and she began to moan and cry, floating away through a toilet cubicle.

I saw the book then, a little black one, on the floor by one of the cubicles. I picked it up, shaking the water off of it, turned to Ron and shrugged. Who threw this at Mrytle? And why?


	23. Into The World Of Tom Riddle

**Hi guys. I'm sorry if this chapter isn't as up to scratch as my normal ones, I've just had a pretty bad day is all. I do a job on a lunchtime at my school as a sort of behaviour monitor and today I was told by some not very nice students that I was 'fucking useless', I was 'a slag' and another insult that had something to do with 'dog shit' that I didn't entirely hear. So yeah :/ Not a very good day. And I've just been quite stressed and a little ill and it's just... urgh.**

**So, I apologise if it's not up to the usual standard, but I hope you enjoy it just the same. This is all from Harry's P.O.V for anyone who's wondering. **

* * *

I stared at the diary on the table and flicked through the pages. Strangely, even though it had been in at least a centimetre or water, only the cover was wet – the old parchment pages were fine. I sat back in my chair, puzzled by it slightly. I picked it up again and flipped it over. The name 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' was etched on the back in gold lettering. I don't know anyone called Tom Riddle. Did someone take it from him, or is it maybe a family heirloom? There are lots of students in Hogwarts, one of them could have the last name 'Riddle'. But why throw it away? It's just a book.

I opened it to the first few pages in. The parchment was blank and had an old smell that wasn't that unpleasant. I picked up my quill and dipped it in my ink pot. Well if someone had thrown it away then they clearly didn't want it, I'm sure they wouldn't mind me writing just a little bit. I could always tear the page out afterwards if they had a problem.

The ink was already dripping off my quill before I realised I'd forgotten to tap the extra off on the side of the pot. For a second I was disappointed with myself – the first thing I do is put a giant blob of ink onto a perfectly clean perfectly usable page of parchment. Then my disappointment turned to amazement as the ink slowly seeped into the page and disappeared.

I sat up straight, staring at the book. The ink had completely gone, there was no trace of it. I turned the page quickly and re-dipped my quill, remembering to tap off the extra before putting the quill to the parchment.

'My name is Harry Potter.' I wrote slowly, and a second after I had finished, the whole sentence disappeared. I grinned a little, before the ink began to come back. For less than a second I was disappointed, thinking it hadn't worked, but then I realised that the sentence was different, no longer in my scrawled untidy handwriting and instead the letters were long and elegant.

'_Hello Harry Potter, my name is Tom Riddle._' Magic just never ceases to amaze me – all the things that can be done is astonishing. Is there someone in there? Or is the book some sort of two-way communication device? It's so intriguing. A thought struck me suddenly. The last attack was fifty years ago, and this book looks pretty old. Maybe Tom Riddle was there… maybe he saw something, or heard something that he could tell me about.

I took a deep breath, excited as I re-dipped my quill in the ink, and started to write again.

'Do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?' I wrote, speaking the words as I put them down. The reply was almost instant.

'_Yes_.' My excitement suddenly grew. This could be it! All our questions could be answered! We could stop whoever's doing this right now!

'Can you tell me?' I wrote quickly.

'_No_.' My heart sank as I sat back, scrunching up my nose slightly. '_But I can show you_.' I furrowed my eyebrows slightly. What does that mean? Is he going to draw a picture with the ink or something? But still Tom wasn't finished writing to me, another sentence appearing on the page. '_Let me take you back 50 years ago_'.

The book seemed to burst to life as the pages turned a mile a minute before landing on a page near the middle of the book. '13th June' appeared in the corner, and then bright light seemed to burst from the centreline of the book. My eyes widened as the whole book began to emanate the light, and suddenly I could feel is pulling me in, while I was powerless to stop it.

I was almost dropped into a corridor, although there was no feeling of me ever having moved from my seat. It was like one moment I was sat and then suddenly I was stood, and the world had changed around me. Everything was black, white and grey, and I thought I understood that I was actually _inside_ the book, inside a recollection of a memory.

I walked forwards uncertainly through the corridor and quickly came to a set of stairs. A tall dark haired boy was stood at the first corner of the staircase, looking up. He didn't seem to have noticed me. There were shadows crossing the walls of professors with tall hats, slowly and quietly moving. There seemed to be tension in the air, and a lot of fear.

"Excuse me," I said to the boy, walking towards him, feeling like it was a crime to break the silence, but needing to anyway. "Could you tell me what's going on here?" I asked. Despite me talking he didn't seem to know I was there. He didn't turn his head, didn't look at me, and didn't reply. It was like I didn't exist. "Are you Tom Riddle?" He didn't answer that question either. "Hello? Can you hear me?" I felt silly just asking when it seemed clear he didn't know I was there. He was completely fixed on something happening upstairs, something coming towards us. There was something about his face that I sort of recognised but didn't really know where from.

It was then that I noticed a small group of teachers to one side of the staircase, and another four coming down the stairs carrying a body stretcher between them. As they passed us I saw the white sheet, and the pale hand dangling down over the side of the stretcher. I felt a lump in my throat as a cold chill went down my spine. A dead body has just passed me. This must have been what Malfoy was talking about – fifty years ago when a muggle-born died. I just saw them.

"Riddle!" A familiar voice said sharply from the top of the stairs, making both Tom and I turn to it. "Come."

"Professor Dumbledore," Tom Riddle said in acknowledgement. His voice was smooth and had something about it that I couldn't quite put my finger on. But my attention was drawn more to the professor, who had a much shorter beard amongst other things.

"It is not wise to be wandering around this late hour, Tom" Professor Dumbledore said as Tom Riddle walked up the stairs to him.

"Yes Professor," Tom answered him "I suppose I… I had to see for myself if the rumours were true."

"I'm afraid they are Tom," Dumbledore answered solemnly, no trace of his usual cheerful tone. "They are true."

"About the school as well? I don't have a home to go to. They wouldn't really close Hogwarts, would they professor?" Tom said, sounding worried but still managing to keep that smooth voice. No home to go to? Does he live on the streets? Or is it more like me and the Dursleys, where he has a house to go to that isn't a home.

"I understand, Tom, but I'm afraid that Headmaster Dippet may have no choice." So Dumbledore isn't the headmaster?

"Sir if it all stopped, if the person responsible was caught…" Tom's voice trailed off, and Dumbledore looked at him, and it was at that moment I realised the professor had no spectacles - but it was the same look none the less.

"Is there something you wish to tell me?" he asked, and Tom looked at him.

"No sir, nothing." He answered. Dumbledore gave him a more sceptical look, but at the same time it didn't reek of suspicion.

"Very well then," he said finally to Tom. "Off you go." The words were almost mirrored in my head – they were the same words he had said to me when I was in his office after Justin and Sir Nicholas got attacked, except there was no sceptical look when he spoke with me. No suspicion.

"Goodnight sir," Tom said reluctantly, almost sounding sad. I guess seeing a dead body must be hard for anyone, and not having anywhere to go if the school gets shut…

Tom walked past Professor Dumbledore and a group of teachers, and when I realised he wasn't stopping I hurried after him. I need to find out where he's going, what he's doing. That can't be all he knows about the Chamber.

I followed him down the corridor into a slightly wider one, and walked behind him as he turned a corner. He walked quickly, hurrying, checking that no one was watching, that no one was around. What is he doing? He hurried down a set of stairs and then into another corridor before walking up to a door and drawing his wand, opening it dramatically. Tom's wand was instantly raised.

"Evening Hagrid." He said sternly, almost emotionlessly "I'm going to have to turn you in. I don't think you meant it to kill anyone…"  
"You can't," Hagrid replied, his voice slightly higher than the Hagrid I know outside the book. But, that means that… "You don't understand." Hagrid protested.

"The dead girl's parents will be here tomorrow. The least Hogwarts can do is make sure the thing that killed their daughter is slaughtered."

"It wasn't him," Hagrid protested "Aragog never killed on one. Never."

"Monsters don't make good pets, Hagrid," Tom answered him. No, Hagrid… "Now stand aside."

"No."

"Stand aside Hagrid."

"No!"

"_Cistem Aperio_!" Tom said with a wave of his wand, and a crate behind Hagrid flew open, before a massive spider bigger than my head scurried out, its feet pattering quickly on the floor as it made its escape down the box and past my feet.

"_Arania Exumai_!" Tom fired a jet of blue light from his wand, but it missed the spider and the creature hurried off around the corner.

"Aragog!" Hagrid called after it "Aragog!" He started to move after it, but Tom pointed his wand at him.

"I can't let you go," Riddle said "They'll have your wand for this Hagrid. You'll be expelled." Hargid hung his head, and I felt a slight pull behind me.

"Hagrid!" I called out to him, but neither of them heard me. "Hagrid!" Bright light enveloped me again and I was flung back into my chair. I stared at the book for a second.

"Whoa," I said, my mind swirling before I stood and ran to the boys common room to tell Ron what I had seen.


	24. Into The Chamber

It was late when I came out of the Room of Requirement. The time had gotten away from me, and it was well past curfew. Most of my time there was spent training, as usual, but some of it this time was spent thinking. Just thinking, sitting in a comfortable armchair in the low light. I thought about a lot of things, really. Most of them were about my family, though. The Slytherin family. The Riddle family. Midnight Riddle… I'm no longer the only heir of Slytherin, if I ever was to begin with. But I'm the only one of this generation. Just dad and me. Voldemort and Midnight. It's strange to think about. There's the Chamber of Secrets, somewhere only the members of my bloodline know how to find, somewhere only we can access, containing a monster only the two of us can control.

So why was I still sat there thinking? Why wasn't I doing anything? I have the opportunity of a lifetime to see this legendary chamber, and yet I haven't even tried to get in. Why? Why don't I just go? I know where it is, I'm sure I could find out how to get in if I wanted to. So why not do it?

Dad is why. Because if I open it at the wrong moment, I could ruin everything, become a disgrace, a failure. And I can't allow that. Ever. Perhaps I'm too loyal. I'm not exploiting every opportunity given to me, practically handed to me on a silver platter, so maybe I am. Maybe there's a limit to how loyal you should be, rather than how loyal you can be.

But then I've always been that way. Turned away from every other kid in the orphanage because I was different, because my hair changed colour when I got angry, because I couldn't read and write like them, because I caused discomfort around everyone who got close, because I saw strange things through the windows and on the streets like men with only one eye and tall women with vicious scaly tails, sharp spikes like scorpions stingers tipped on the end. Because I scared them. Then turned me away, pinpointed me as an outcast from the moment I arrived. Threatened me with chucking me out onto the streets – the Malfoys probably bribed them not to. And so who else would I be loyal to? I had no friends, just the memory of who I thought was my father, brutally murdered before my eyes, and my elusive mother, who dropped the occasional birthday card or present off in my room while I slept. She sent me letters, written in Greek so I would understand, telling me how to survive, what I had to do. Revenge. Its meaning has changed so much since I was a child. All those times I thought I'd been doing her proud when all I was really doing was conducting silly little pranks and reaping the results. It's different now. Revenge is so much more brutal, so much more coarse and animalistic and instinctual. I love it. Those days of putting tarantulas into coat pockets and tricking other kids to hit and bite and to take the blame for my antics, are nothing in comparison to the feeling of excitement, anticipation and above all calm before you see them and the terrified look in their eyes that makes you feel satisfaction. Feel worthy.

I had stood from my chair when I realised what time it was, and walked out. I often think too deeply when that's all my mind is focused on. The constant tapping of the feet and brushing of the hair with my fingers seemed to sink into the background, a mist that's rising, drifting away.

I walked down the stairs, going from floor to floor without meeting anyone. No light, no sound other than the slight echo of my own footsteps that I quickly and almost automatically silenced. My feet did the walking as my mind drifted away again, thinking again of my family. I wonder what Nemesis is up to in America. She said the balance was off, or was soon to be, and she was needed there more than here. I wonder what's happening over there. I haven't heard anything, not that I would have expected to as neither Hogwarts nor the Malfoys have any way of obtaining muggle information. I don't expect the muggles to be the ones causing the problems, but they're not bad at picking things up. Even something as simple as a slight change in the weather they're fairly good at conveying to members of the public. And if it's the demi-gods at Camp Half-blood, I have no doubts trouble will be being caused for the muggles. Because if they're anything like me, they'll be good at three things: one – blowing things up, two – causing panic on the streets and three – generally messing things up for everyone. And muggles aren't fond of those three things.

I wonder what the other demi-gods are like. I mean, I know Alex, and he's a son of Ares, the God of War, but surely every demi-god is different? I mean, if all the Gods have kids, surely each of the demi-gods will have their own set of skills. Alex is strong, tall, muscular and agile, presumably because he could be classed as a warrior. But he can't charm-speak like I can, he can't change his appearance like I can, and he doesn't feel the urge to get revenge like I do. He just likes to fight. What about the others? I mean, the big one would be Zeus, what are his kids like? Do they shoot lightening out of their hands and control the weather? Do they have any urges to start thunderstorms or anything like that? Or do they have stormy personalities? Or Aphrodite. Are her kids all beautiful romantics who spread love and joy and all that rubbish? It's intriguing. I'm not sure whether I'd like to meet them in person or not, but I'd definitely like to know more about them. Maybe I can ask Alex when the summer holidays start, assuming he's not dead of course.

My mind drifted back to reality and I realised I had stopped walking. I wasn't sure when, but I definitely knew where I was. I was standing right outside the door of the girls' bathroom on the second floor. Still there was silence. No footsteps, no talking, nothing. Not even moaning or weeping from the ghost.

I felt my hand push against the door slightly, and it opened, as if someone was willing me in, beckoning me. I did kind of need the bathroom too. I walked in quietly, and saw that the room was empty. I quickly went to one of the cubicles, and then afterwards went to wash my hands. As I turned the tap on, I noticed something about the sink I was using that I hadn't seen on any of the other sinks. It was barely noticeable, something you'd normally overlook. But once I noticed it, my attention was drawn to it fully. A little grey snake, like the one of the Slytherin emblem, carved into the side of the tap. I ran my fingers over it gently and my eyes went to the large white cylinder that the sinks sit around. I glanced to the snake again. In an age where no one else has a talent that you do and no one else can replicate it, what better way than to use it to store something precious? Something secret?

I took a step away from the sink and looked it up and down, knowing that the ghost of Myrtle could return at any second. I didn't know what to say to get it open though…

"_Open sesame?_" I asked the sink pillar. For a second, nothing happened, and I felt a little disappointed, but then a hissing sound came from it, like pressurised gas escaping as the top of the pillar lifted off, and each side separated into single walls of stone and porcelain, revealing a large tunnel entrance. It was dark, and quiet. Very quiet. I wondered whether it would be a good idea, or even a sensible idea, to go down there, then shrugged. I've come this far.

I sat of the edge of the tunnel's entrance, and then said "_Close_" in parseltongue, and the walls began to close around me. I pushed myself off the edge before the walls could crush my fingers and felt myself slide down the tunnel. It seemed to go on forever, no sound other than that of myself sliding down it. After more than a few seconds, when I was sure I must be far underground, maybe even under the lake bed, I saw a little dull light signalling the end of the tunnel, and I dug my heels into the wall to slow myself, so once I was at the bottom I safely climbed out. My shoes instantly crunched as I looked around myself, and then to the ground to see hundreds if not thousands of bones littering the ground – not big bones like humans, but little bones, as if all the rats and other rodents that had ever entered had been eaten.

I didn't know where the light was coming from – there were no lamps, certainly no windows. It was more like the light was emanating from the room itself, but even then it was pretty dull, only just bright enough to allow a little visibility. It wasn't even like this place was a room – it was more of a gap in another bigger tunnel. I realised that what I was standing in was a whole maze of interlocking tunnels that probably formed the plumbing of Hogwarts – each twice my height the whole way around.

I took a step forwards, almost cringing at the sound of the cracking bones beneath my feet. I carried on regardless out of the small room that wasn't really a roon and into another tunnel, where a massive trail of white translucent material stretched across the ground, over boulders, and then came back on itself several times. It wasn't narrow either – massively wide, probably 5-6 ft or more, and then I understood something about Slytherin's monster. It was a snake. A massive snake, that could presumably petrify with maybe only a glance, and kill with a lot less, a snake that only understood parseltongue, and so could only understand and be controlled by Slytherin and his descendants. And what I was staring at now was the skin it had shed. No wonder they call it a monster.

I made a mental note to close my eyes and start talking in parseltongue only, in an attempt to stop it from killing me. I carried on through that room, the little bones crunching constantly beneath my feet, wondering whether my dad had ever come down here himself, or whether I was the first person here since Salazar Slytherin himself. I walked through more tunnels, not sure where I was going, but certain I was going the right way when I saw an almost shield-like circular opening on the wall that was locked shut, snakes running across it from one side, acting as the locking mechanism.

"_Open sesame_," I said again, more cheerfully this time. I could probably say anything as long is it was in parseltongue and it would open. The snake heads that formed the locks jerked back with a metallic scraping as another snake slithered along the outside. The door opened, and I went in.

The chamber I stepped into was huge, connecting all the tunnels together. The stone floor was covered in a thin layer of water, and large statues of snake heads mirrored each other on either side of what I presumed was the main walkway. Each head had its mouth open, showing the long forked tongue and curved deadly fangs rising from deeper murkier water, the bottom of which could not be seen. At the end of the snake statues there was a massive stone statue of the head of an old man, forming the back wall, his hair splayed out like a star – the creepiest star I'd ever seen. This statue was surrounded by deep water too. I walked up to it slowly, looking around in both amazement and a little fear. If I look the wrong way at any point, that would be it – no more Midnight.

I stopped finally and stood at the waters edge, the statue of the man's head rising above me, half majestic half intensely creepy. I'm used to weird things, I'm used to dark and gory and grizzly things, but _this_, this is just downright _disturbing_. I was unsure what to do next. I'm in the chamber, right now, I've looked around, I've seen the important things to see I think. The only thing left is to see the monster itself, maybe even talk to it, but that could cost me my life. Is it worth it?

Fate answered for me, as the statues mouth began to open, stone grinding against stone. My eyes shut instantly, and a second later the stone grinding stopped, and a long loud hiss entered the air.

_"__I am Midnight Riddle_," I told it "_Heir of Salazar Slytherin._"

"_Greetings, heir of Slytherin_," the monster replied in a croaky drawn out voice. I heard the water splash and then drip, and I knew it had risen, its head probably towering above me, and then I heard its body move and felt hot breath on my face, and knew it was less than an inch away from my face.

"_What is your command?_" It asked.

"_Don't kill me_," I answered after a moments pause so it didn't look like I was scared. I think this might be the only thing that's ever scared me, even just a little. When I was very young nightmares troubled me, but I was never scared of them. Heights make me uncomfortable, but they don't scare me. This snake…

"_I would not_," it replied "_I am bound to serve the Slytherin family until I die, but I would not recommend opening those eyes of yours, for you will die whether I wish it or not_."

"_You are bound to my family?_"

"_Salazar Slytherin found and rescued me when I was a mere hatchling – I am forever in his servitude, and hence the servitude of his children._"

"_You killed a mudblood fifty years ago?_" I asked.

"_It is possible_," the snake responded "_I indeed killed a human, a female, many years ago, although how many I am not certain. I have killed many in my lifetime, and petrified many more."_ I paused.

"_What are you?_"

"_My kind are known as basilisks. I was told by Salazar that my brothers and sisters had been purged from the above ground, and that I may be the last of my kind_."

"_I'll look into it for you_," I responded, feeling a little sad if that is the case. I've heard of basilisks before in amongst the list of dangerous Greek monsters that prey on demi-gods, but none like these.

"_You are most kind_," the basilisk replied.

"_Do you have a name_?" I asked. I'm not sure why I'm dragging the conversation out, why I'm not just turning around right now and leaving, but I feel the need to. Think about how much I could learn from this creature about my great ancestor, about my own blood.

"_Names are labels that humans bind to each other. My kind know no such thing_."

"_Salazar did not name you?_"

"_No. He smuggled me into the castle from his home where my eyes were bound shut for his protection. I was never named_."

"_Do you miss him_?" I asked, feeling it quite a pathetic question to ask, yet one I wanted to ask anyway.

"_You confuse me for a human. I am a basilisk, and feel no such emotions of loss. I will serve until I am dead, as I must repay my debt to the human who saved my life._"

"_So you're loyal_?"

"_If that is what you wish to call it_." The basilisk was getting bored with me, I could tell, but I couldn't help it.

"_Loyalty is its own reward_," I told him.

"_It would seem so_." He replied. "_And as I am 'loyal', tell me: what service do you require of me that warrants a visit into my chamber_?"


	25. Easy Come, Easy Go

I climbed up a rusting ladder to the trapdoor I knew would be there. The basilisk had told me a lot, but I hadn't set it on anyone, hadn't let it loose. I don't think I'd be able to keep a straight head if it turned out that someone had died because of me. It's stupid, I know. I shouldn't feel any responsibility, Alex has told me that. If I want to survive, I have to push away emotions like that. Doubt is a luxury I won't be able to afford for much longer.

Instead, the basilisk gave me information, answered every question to the fullest of its ability. It told me about the second entrance – or rather, the exit. People were never intended to be actually in the chamber itself, no one other that Salazar himself that was. The basilisk told me that I was the first to go down there since my ancestor had originally left. In leaving, he built a tiny second entrance with a ladder, accessible by a maze of trapdoors only opened by parseltongue. The top trapdoor was then sealed in parseltongue and covered in a layer of thick foliage so it would never be found. Guarded by snakes and a variety of monstrous creatures, no one ever dared go near. Which means it'll be a lot safer to leave from there than to open up the bathroom entrance where anyone, including Moaning Myrtle's ghost, could be watching from the other side. I'll just have to be ready for any monsters waiting for me on the other side of this exit.

I followed the basilisk's directions through the maze, feeling a little tired but still exhilarated, to the final trapdoor.

"_Open up_," I ordered, and the sound of scraping stone rang in my ears, soil from the edges of the door falling around me, dust filling the tiny room I stood in, making me cough. I pushed the door up and open, and then climbed out, hauling myself onto the edge of wherever I was before closing the trapdoor and sealing it again. I coughed a few times more, and then looked around me, and paled.

It was dark, but I could see the morning rays of sunlight just creeping through the trees. But that wasn't the first thing that I realised. The first thing I realised was that I had just broken a massive web, and was now sitting in it, my hands covered in the sticky silk. I looked up and saw an army of spiders watching me silently from high in the trees, only these weren't ordinary spiders. These spiders ranged from the size of my hand, to the size of cars, and they were coming towards me.

I cursed and sprang to my feet, running full pelt through the trees, breaking web after web, the thundering of a thousand hairy feet scurrying after me. I vaulted over a fallen tree trunk and carried on running, breathing heavily, my school bag hitting me on the thigh and slowing me slightly. I grabbed it and carried on as I had practised all summer.

I dodged and weaved as spiders dropped in front of me, hurried to catch up behind me. My sword is in the room of requirement, my dagger tucked away in my boot, useless unless I want to stop to grab it – and I certainly don't want to stop under any circumstances.

Lungs burning, I carried on until the treeline was almost in sight. I swear I saw a little blue car doing doughnuts in the dirt as I ran past, but I was probably hallucinating from the lack of oxygen going to my brain at that point. The spiders were still chasing me, although most began to drop off when they began to see the edge of the forest, but a few of the bigger ones carried on right until I was out into the early morning sunlight before finally stopping. I paused, Hagrid's hut in the distance, and took deep breaths, feeling my heart ricocheting against my ribcage. After a few minutes I stood again, the pain in my stomach, legs and chest fading slightly as I began to walk back up to the castle.

The basilisk told me of a secret entrance to the castle that will bring me out near the Slytherin dungeons as long as it hasn't been blocked off. It's the same as with the proper entrance to the chamber of secrets though (which I will _definitely_ be using if I have to go again); I don't know what or who might be on the other side. I'll be especially screwed if it's a ghost or a teacher – at least if it's a student I can beat them up to keep them quiet, or charmspeak them into thinking I was doing something completely innocent like having a morning walk, but only Professor Snape would let me get away with coming out of secret passageway, and only the Baron would ignore me if he saw me. If it was Filch, Dumbledore or Peeves, this whole thing would be game over. For me at least. I would never sell dad out.

I found the entrance hidden by a wall of overgrown ivy and thorns, marked only by a slightly darker colour of stone, which could have easily been due to the lack of sunlight reaching it. I put my hand against it, and found that the wall was only a mirage, and my hand passed right through it. I carried on walking, stepping through and hurrying through the dark corridor, pulling out my wand.

"_Lumos_" I muttered, and the tip of my wand lit up, illuminating the walls around me, covered in damp earth and bugs crawling from crack to crack. I flicked a beetle off of my shoulder as the wall drew up in front of me – the exit. I listened as best I could not hearing anything, but that doesn't mean there's nothing on the other side. The sun was just coming up outside, meaning it's probably about six in the morning, after all it's only February, so the early risers could be up already.

As I waited, muttering '_nox_' under my breath, the darkness embracing me, I heard nothing, and so put my hand against the wall, feeling the uncomfortable wetness of the damp on my skin. The door slid open silently, and I stepped out into a low lit corridor I recognised well. The wall slid shut behind me, and I realised a statue was placed there, forming the door.

I glanced down at myself, seeing that my clothes were covered in dust, mud and rust. I groaned quietly, fatigue setting in. I woke up at 4am yesterday morning, and haven't slept since, so about 26 hours of being awake I'd guess, with another 12 on the way I'd guess if I go to bed early tonight. I yawned and decided maybe skipping one day of school for a day in bed wouldn't be so bad. I'm good at lying, and I'm good at feigning illness.

I sighed and hurried off down the corridor, making my first priority to take a shower, after getting into the common room and then our dorm without being caught of course.

* * *

Ron and I found Hermione as quickly as we could that morning, so I could tell her what Tom Riddle had shown me last night in the diary. She listened carefully, her attention fully on what I was saying for the first time in days as we walked.

"It was Hagrid," I said solemnly "Hagrid opened the chamber fifty years ago."

"It can't be Hagrid," she responded instantly "it just can't be."

"We don't even know this Tom Riddle, he sounds like a dirty rotten snitch to me." Ron said, looking between us.

"The monster had just killed somebody, Ron," I pointed out "What would any of us have done?" He looked to the ground as we walked, mulling it over in his mind.

"Look," Hermione said, using her sensible yet authoritive tone of voice "Hargid's our friend. Why don't we just go and ask him about it?"

"That would be a cheerful visit," Ron said sarcastically as I shook my head at her suggestion. "'Hello Hagrid, tell us, have you been setting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately?'"

"Mad and hairy?" a deep familiar voice suddenly said from behind us, making each of us turn quickly to look up at Hagrid, who was smiling down at us "You wouldn't be talking about me know would you?"  
"No." I responded instantly, only for Ron and Hermione to say it at exactly the same time with me, making Hagrid look at us all, a little offended.

"What's that you've got there Hagrid?" I asked, pointing to the large can in his hand to try to draw his attention away from us. I don't want to believe it's Hagrid, I really don't.

"Oh it's er flesh eatin' slug repellent, for the mandrakes, you know. Now according to Professor Sprout they've still got a bit of growing up to do. But once their acne's cleared up we'll be able to chop 'em up and stew 'em and then we'll get those people down at the hospital un-petrified." We all nodded encouragingly. It's good that everyone will soon be alright again. Hermione looked like she was thinking about something, as she usually is, but it didn't look like it was a good thought as she pursed her lips into a thin line, her eyes looking through the ground to nothing beyond.

"In the meantime though," Hagrid said, and I noticed she seemed to get knocked out of her 'trance' as we all turned to listen to Hagrid again, whose tone had gone serious. "You three had best be lookin' after yourselves. All right?" We nodded, and so did he, before he turned and left, walking back in the direction of the corridors, passing Neville who came sprinting towards us, making me frown.

"Harry! I don't know who did it but you'd better come! Come on!" he panted, and then turned and ran back, forcing us to run after him. He slowed to a walk only halfway up the moving staircases, red in the face and panting heavily as we were.

"Neville what's going on?" I asked him.

"You'll see," he said, and then hurried on again, up to the Fat Lady portrait. He gave her the password and then we hurried inside up to the boys dorm to a scene of destruction. Pillows had been torn open, feathers everywhere, books and trunks turned upside down, drawers thrown open, picture frames smashed, parchment crumpled up and torn. Hedwig sat chirping on the desk, everything else off it already swept onto the floor. I stepped forwards slowly, before hurrying to root through my drawer. Don't let them have taken it…

"It had to be a Gryffindor, no one else knows our password. Unless it wasn't a student…" Hermione said, and then her voice trailed off, as if she'd thought of something.

"Whoever it was they must have been looking for something," Ron said, as I sat back and looked at them.

"And they found it." I said solemnly "Tom Riddle's diary is gone." Hermione and Ron looked to each other as Neville walked over to his bed, which had also had the pillows torn and debris littered around it.

"When did you last have it?" Hermione asked.

"This morning," I said, remembering "I was talking to Ginny in the corridor when Malfoy pushed me and all my books fell on the floor, the diary too. So I put it back in my bag and brought it up here for safe-keeping."

"Clearly not safe enough," Ron frowned "But who would want it this badly?"

"You don't think it could be the _real_ heir of Slytherin, do you?" Hermione asked, making us turn to her.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well," she frowned, looking at the ground before looking back at us "If what Tom Riddle showed you was true, then maybe there was more to it, something that the person who's opening the chamber now didn't want anyone to see."

"So they're keeping Tom prisoner?" I asked, and then got a little angry. Trapped because he knows something he shouldn't. "We have to get it back."  
"But we don't know who took it," Ron said, and I sighed, frustrated.

"Maybe it wasn't a Gryffindor," Hermione said suddenly, making all of us, including Neville, look at her.

"What do you mean?" Neville asked from across the room.

"Who do we know who always seems to know our password?" she asked us. I thought about it but didn't really understand what she was implying. She rolled her eyes in frustration.

"Midnight! Really you two? She knew our password all year last year, whose to say she doesn't know it this year?"

"But what would Midnight want with the diary?" I frowned and then realised what she implying.

"I keep telling you I don't think it's her," I said in irritation. She frowned at me, angry, and then gave me a little glare.

"Don't keep trying to defend her Harry. I know she's up to no good."

"Let's find out where she's been all day, then we can check," Ron said quickly, sensibly, and I nodded.

"Come on. Let's find her." We left the destroyed dorm and hurried back out of the common room, our robes trailing white feathers behind us.

"Where would she be?" Ron asked. I shrugged. Midnight could be anywhere.

"Let's start at the Great Hall, maybe they're still eating," I said, and they nodded. We walked over, moving through the crowds as quickly as we could just in time to see one of Midnight's friends leaving – Greengrass I think her name is?

"Hey!" Ron called, and they turned, Greengrass and another girl with glasses and short hair.

"What do you want?" she asked, nearly spitting.

"We need to find Midnight." I said quickly "Is she with you?"  
"No, she's ill. She's been in bed all day."

"We really need to talk to her," Hermione added quickly, and Greengrass looked at her before looking away. Then she scowled.

"Fine. We were going back to the common room anyway. You can wait outside while I go and get her. She won't be happy though."

"I think I can live with that," Hermione muttered and Greengrass looked at her for a moment before turning back to her friend who was scowling, and walking hurriedly down to the dungeons.

"Wait here," Greengrass instructed harshly, making us wait around the corner as she went into their common room. The password will have changed from 'pureblood' now I would think. After a few minutes of tense silence, we heard the portrait to their common room open and Midnight rounded the corner in her cloak and pyjamas, even though it was only lunchtime. I guess Greengrass was right when she said Midnight had been in bed all day.

"What is it?" she sighed.

"We heard you were ill," I said at first, and it was true that she didn't look so good. Her eyes had dark circles under them and she looked a little paler than normal.

"Being ill warrants a visit these days?" she said sarcastically "I was sleeping."

"Where have you been in the last hour?" Ron asked sharply. She looked to him.

"Didn't you just hear me? I was _sleeping_. You know, bed, close eyes, good dreams and stuff. 'Sleep'."

"Yeah, I get it," Ron muttered.

"What's the Gryffindor password?" Hermione asked quickly, probably sensing I was about to turn away and apologise for bothering Midnight when she's not well.

"How should I know?" Midnight responded "Is that why you came to see me? Because you've forgotten your own password? Shouldn't another Gryffindor be able to help you out with that?"  
"No," I sighed "someone broke into the boys' dorm and took something."

"Really?" she asked, and now she looked interested "what did they take?"

"Just a book," Hermione said quickly, as if she didn't want Midnight to hear the word 'diary'.

"Oh," Midnight said, but she was watching us all carefully. "Well I'll keep an ear out, if I hear anything from our gossip extraordinaires, I'll let you know."

"Thanks," I said gratefully, although I wasn't sure what to make of the look she gave us, before it was gone, and she nodded.

"No problem. Anyway, I'm going back to bed. I hope you find your book."

"Thanks and sorry for disturbing you." She shrugged, and then turned and left.

"She's so guilty," Hermione muttered angrily under her breath the moment we heard their common room portrait close.

"Just stop Hermione," I groaned. She glared at me.

"Fine. Don't believe me. But I'm going to prove that she's behind this, whether you're with me or not."


	26. Finders Keepers (or not)

**Hi! Not a very long chapter today but I hope you enjoy it just the same. :)**

**I have some very exciting news, at least for me, that I think I should tell you guys about. I have just been accepted into my University of choice on a conditional offer! I'm very excited and thrilled and bouncing off the walls but it does mean I will have to work incredibly hard now in order to get the grades I need, which means updates could be a little less often, a little late sometimes because school will be taking priority. But I'm so excited and I hope you guys will be supportive and understanding :) I know you will.**

**This story doesn't have long to go as not much actually happens between now and May, so the next chapter will probably be a time-jump of a month or two to keep the story going and then it'll get very exciting as everything kicks off and then it'll be done! Scary, huh? :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

I didn't let on how worried I was. The diary is gone. Who knows who could have it now? I mean, I'm sure dad can handle himself, but what if the person who took it freaked out the moment dad started talking to them, if he started talking to them at all, and handed it in to Dumbledore. Dumbledore would know instantly who it was, I'm sure. I mean, apart from Dumbledore being one of the cleverest wizards in the world, I'm sure he's one of the oldest, and I know he was a teacher here before he was headmaster. That could mean he knew dad when he was Tom Riddle. And being one of the most powerful wizards in the world… I have to find the diary.

They broke into the Gryffindor boys' dorm, which probably means that they're a Gryffindor themselves. No Slytherin students know it, not even me, and I'm sure the Gryffindors wouldn't give it to a Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw student – those houses kind of stick to themselves outside of lessons. I wonder if it was Ginny. But how would she have known Harry had the diary? Unless she saw him with it, she wouldn't have known who had it. And why would she want it back?

Maybe she was afraid the diary would start talking about her, tell Harry that it was really Ginny who opened the chamber. As far as I'm aware that hasn't happened yet. I mean, there was no raid into the chamber, the school isn't full of gossip of that kind as it would have been if it had been revealed that a Weasley had opened the chamber.

Either way, whoever it was, I have to find that diary and get it back to Harry as soon as possible. I got dressed and came out of the common room just after dinner. I quickly found a young Gryffindor wandering by themselves and cornered them, 'persuading' them to give me the Gryffindor password with my charm speak. I let them go the moment they told it me, and returned to the common room. I don't want to be seen out here for too long, especially as I've had the day off.

Daphne didn't let me out of her sight all evening, I couldn't even go to the room of requirement because she was constantly watching me. We haven't spoken much, which doesn't really bother me, but it gets a little irritating when you casually glance over your shoulder to find someone staring at you from across the room. So, I played along, sat and chatted with Draco, Crabbe and Goyle while Daphne sat with Pansy, Tracy and Millicent at the other side of the room. I smiled and nodded and gave the occasional laugh, tapped my feet, fiddled with my hair, and then made the excuse of I still wasn't feeling well and went upstairs to the dorm.

I didn't change into my pyjamas, but went to sleep as quickly as I could, or at least pretended I was asleep for a few hours before actually drifting off. I woke up at one in the morning, everyone else fast asleep around me in their own beds, their breathing rhythmic and slightly heavy.

I got out of bed silently and slipped my dagger into my boot. I crept out of the dorm in darkness and hurried down the stairs, transfiguring myself as I did so into the same little blonde student I portrayed before.

I slipped out of the empty common room and hurried through the corridors, my footsteps echoing slightly, my shadow bouncing off the walls. I moved quickly and quietly up the moving staircases in as much darkness as I dared walk in – I don't want to wake any of the portraits, but neither do I want to fall to my death if one staircase begins to move or isn't attached to a platform at the other end.

I hurried up to the Fat Lady, who was sleeping, and relayed the password to her impatiently. The portrait swung open, making her wake startled, but I was already through the portrait hole by the time her eyes were open.

The fire had gone out, only two lamps in the room lit giving a soft warm glow. I hurried past in complete silence and went up the girls' dorm stairs. I remember which room is Ginny's from my first encounter with her, when I was pretending to be her friend. I crept past each door, knowing that at any moment one could open and a late sleeper could jump out at me and ruin everything. But that didn't happen, everyone deeply asleep, as they should be at one in the morning. Even if Ginny hasn't got the diary, I need to eliminate her from my list of potential people.

I stopped outside of Ginny's dorm door and gently pushed it open, hearing the soft '_click_' of the door latch moving out of place. I peered my head around to see each of them fast asleep. I closed the door behind me and crept inside, painfully aware of every footstep I was taking. I moved forwards, not seeing the diary, the moonlight streaming through the window my only source of light. I found the red head easily enough where she slept peacefully in her bed. I rooted quietly through the drawer next to her, not seeing the diary on her desk or cabinet. I didn't find anything, so moved to the trunk at the foot of her bed. I opened it quietly, and immediately saw the diary resting on top of a neatly folded pile of clothes. I rolled my eyes are the ridiculous failure of a hiding spot and picked the diary up before closing the trunk lid again.

I crept out of the dorm and down to the common room. Spying a pot of ink and row of spare quills on one table, I became deep in thought. If dad wants to go back to Harry it would make more sense for me to just put it there now rather than coming back another night. Everything's going well, no one's woken up, and hopefully no one in my own dorm has noticed my absence. But it would be sensible to check with him first what his next move is. I don't want to make a mess of things.

I moved towards the ink and picked up a quill, quickly opening the diary.

'It's Midnight,' I wrote quickly. 'Where do you want to be?' It took him only seconds to reply.

'_Take me back to Ginny Weasley._' I frowned. But he wanted to see Harry.

'Why?'

'_She has caused me to change my plans, and must be punished for it. Since she is already under my influence I will continue to use her to target Harry Potter. Then I will kill her and use her life to reform my body._' Reform the body? He intends on coming back? A real flesh and blood person? How is that possible…?

'Ok, I'll put you back now.' I responded, a little coolly, before closing the diary and walking back up the girls' dorm stairs back to Ginny's room. I reopened the trunk and placed the diary back exactly where I found it before quietly leaving.

I hurried out of the Gryffindor common room, hoping no one, especially Daphne or Pansy, had realised I was missing. What does he mean? I mean, I know that he's in the diary, essentially, but how can he kill from in there? How can he become a real person again? _Alive_ again? Maybe I'll have to double-check my options sooner that I thought.


	27. Petrified

I heard nothing for over a month, nearly two. I saw Harry and Ron on a regular basis, not really talking to them, but giving a 'friendly' smile and nod when we passed in the corridors. I didn't see Hermione much unless I was in the library, and each time she stared at me, to which (when she was alone) I would smirk in her general direction. The first few times, she paled a little. Then she just got angry. I didn't speak to her – I don't want to push my luck. But I had fun with just a smirk.

When I eventually heard the voice of the basilisk again, it was at a time I would least expect it. In the middle of the day, in broad daylight, on a Saturday, when everyone was wandering around, getting excited for the Quidditch match that afternoon: Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff. It was a bright and sunny day, and the feeling of friendly competition was hanging pleasantly in the air.

I was sat in the room of requirement, content in my isolation, having a drink of water and taking a short break in between training when I heard it.

"_Kill…kill…_" I froze and looked around me, but the basilisk was already moving away, going further down. I hope dad knows what he's doing. After all, broad daylight is very bold, especially if he's trying to avoid getting caught.

"_Time to kill_…" The basilisk's voice faded fairly quickly, and although I felt a little sympathetic towards whoever the creature finds, I know I'll feel more than a little guilty if they die.

I stood and stretched and then picked up my sword again, and went on the attack, but the basilisk's voice stayed in my head, an unpleasant sound, repeating over and over. I burnt out as much energy as I could, and then gave up with a sigh. I need concentration, I need to be able to focus on instinct and instinct alone. When I'm distracted like this, the training just isn't worth it.

I put my weapons away and picked up my schoolbag, slipping my dagger into my boot as usual. The basilisk never stays out long, but if I hear it again, I know to stay away. Dad knows what he's doing… he has to.

I walked through the corridors, listening carefully, but passing students where were alive and well on every corner. I shook my head and decided to head for the library. If I can't train I might as well get some school work done.

I sighed and ruffled my hair before rounding the corner to the library and freezing. My heart seemed to stop for a moment before starting again, my breath coming out in a long single shudder. Two bodies were on the floor in front of me, frozen in place, not moving, not seeing, perfectly still: petrified. The second one I didn't really recognise, but the first I knew straight away. Hermione Granger.

With a deep breath I forced myself to step around them, and then sprinted into the library.

"There's no run-"

"There's been another attack!" I said breathlessly, even though I'd only sprinted no more than 4 meters. The librarian who had been beginning to tell me off, now paled.

"Where?"

"Right outside."

"Stay here, don't let anyone out of the room." The librarian said quickly before hurrying out, her cloak billowing behind her. Everyone was staring at me now, but I tried not to focus on that. I have more important things to worry about.

* * *

"Alright listen up; we play our game, Hufflepuff doesn't stand a chance. We're stronger, quicker and smarter." Oliver Wood said to the team as we stood staring at the presentation he had constructed in our tent. All our manoeuvres had been put there, carefully and meticulously thought out, no detail was spared. Wood had clearly spent a long time devising our training scheme. I wondered how it felt to see it all written out like that, so clear and logical. I suppose he's a little nervous, as am I.

"Not to mention they're dead scared that Harry will petrify them if they fly anywhere _near_ him." George piped up, not helping my nerves at all, and only reminding me that most students still treat me like an outcast. They still think it's me, very few people don't. In fact, some of the people I'm with right now, my teammates, still think it's me. I could probably count the people who don't on one hand.

"Well that too," Wood said encouragingly, but I could tell he wanted to sigh. He wants to win the cup, I know, but at the same time he wants it to be because we're good, not because the other team is scared of me.

We walked out of the tent, clutching our brooms tightly ready to play. The pitch was only a few meters away, but Professor McGonagall stopped us before we could get there, holding a roll of parchment in her hands.

"Professor McGonagall" Wood said pleasantly.

"This match has been cancelled," she said immediately, addressing all the members of the team. We looked at each other. We've been practising and training for this for months.

"You can't cancel Quidditch!" Wood exclaimed, saying what we were all thinking, but McGonagall just looked at him.

"Silence Wood. You and your team-mates will go to Gryffindor tower. Now." She told him, voice full of authority. Wood shook his head and stormed off, the rest of the team following him.

"Potter, you and I shall find Mr Weasley," she said seriously "there's something the both of you have to see." I furrowed my eyebrows as I returned my broom to our tent and followed Professor McGonagall to the common room, where we found Ron eating and talking with Neville, Seamus and Dean.

"Mr Weasley," Professor McGonagall said seriously, having walked up unnoticed by him. He looked up and then tried to hide the sweets he had been eating.

"You and Mr Potter need to come with me," Ron rolled his eyes and stood.

"What have we done now?" he asked.

"Just follow me." McGonagall answered. I shrugged at Ron as we shared a glance, and then followed her. The speed in her pace and the worried expression she had for the whole journey made me worried. What's happened? And why just me and Ron? Aren't we going to get Hermione?

She led us to the hospital wing, and my worry increased.

"I warn you, this might be a wee bit of a shock," Professor McGonagall said softly as she led us to a curtained off bed. And on the bed, Hermione, frozen, one arm suspended, hand clenched shut nearly all the way, one leg bent as if she had been walked.

"Hermione…" Ron said quietly, his voice trailing off.

"She was found near the library with Miss Clearwater. Both of them have been petrified. Miss Granger was found along with this," the professor moved to the bedside cabinet and picked up a silver mirror. "Does this mean anything to either of you?" We shook our heads. I've never seen that mirror before, ever.

I moved towards Hermione and rested my hand against her clenched fist. She was cold, and stiff. Her eyes were open, but unseeing. It was unnerving, sad and angering all at the same time. Who did this? Why Hermione…?

Draco Malfoy's words echoed in my head: '_As for me, I hope it's Granger_', and I felt even angrier, before a little unexpected wave of relief washed over me. Hermione's been petrified, but she's not dead. She wasn't killed, like Malfoy foolishly asked for. She'll be safe here. The doors are locked each night now, and Madam Pomfrey's here all day. The monster wouldn't bother going after someone who's already petrified. And the mandrakes will be ready soon, within the next month for sure. Everything will be alright… eventually.


	28. The Spiders

That evening, Professor Snape came into the common room, a roll of parchment in his hand.

"Silence. Can I have everyone's attention?" He said slowly, and we all stopped talking to listen to him as he unrolled the parchment, a hush not usually heard hanging over us.

"Due to recent events Professor Dumbledore has instructed that a new set of rules should be put in place immediately. Therefore, 'all students must return to the common room by six o'clock every evening. All students will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. There will be no exceptions.' I warn you now, that _anyone_ caught disobeying these rules will be severely punished.' He glanced at us all seriously, and then turned, cape billowing behind him, and left the common room. Draco looked at me, his nose crumpling in disgust.

"Why should that apply to _us_? We're pure-bloods, the heir of Slytherin should have no interest in killing us. It's just another stupid rule passed my Dumbledore to make our lives a misery. As if going here isn't bad enough." He rolled his eyes as I ignored him and sighed. I'm still a little shaken from finding the two petrified girls, although I'd never admit it.

I felt like I needed air, fresh clean air to just breathe in and breathe out rhythmically until I can get my head together, properly I mean. And I have to let Chara out through the ground floor window tonight, who's waiting patiently upstairs in my trunk. But getting there could be a problem, especially with these 'new rules' set by Dumbledore, which I must admit, are more than a little annoying. But I guess they're supposed to be – they're there to protect the students and to catch the heir of Slytherin red handed. I hope Ginny knows what she's doing – or I hope dad knows what he's doing while he's controlling Ginny anyway.

"I'm going upstairs," I said bluntly, and then left and walked up the girls' dorm stairs to my room. Tracy was in there collecting something, but she quickly left, giving me a slight nervous smile, which I mirrored with a little more confidence. I slipped Chara from my trunk into my bag – the albino python has certainly grown in the last few months since she started to go out hunting again. Soon she won't fit in my bag anymore, and I have a feeling she'll stop fitting in my trunk not long after that. I don't want to have to leave her at Malfoy Manor, but neither do I want to have her found here or be subjected to the forest outside, where she would easily die of the cold in the winter, or be trampled by a centaur in the night. As usual, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I have a feeling it's not the safest or most concrete approach to be taking though.

Nevertheless, Chara needs to go out to hunt, and I need some air. And I'm not one to back down from a challenge. I waited for a while upstairs, and then walked back down, bag hanging on my shoulder casually, my hair straight and blonde, eyes big and blue. It's well after the new six o'clock curfew, but I doubt the portrait, the Baron or Professor Snape if he caught me, would stop me.

I walked with a strong stride, as if completely innocent or ignorant of breaking the new rule, walked past Draco who ignored me completely, and out through the common room door. The portrait said nothing, but merely raised a long crooked eyebrow, and I carried on up the stairs to the ground floor. I didn't pass anyone, but heard footsteps echoing down the hall, walking away from me. Someone was doing their rounds, and I had just missed them. Or they had just missed me. I opened the window as quietly as I could but instead of opening the bag to let Chara out, I climbed out myself, closing the window nearly entirely, leaving only a tiny finger-sized gap between the frame and the stone wall.

I walked away, staying low to the ground to avoid being spotted through any of the windows, and hurried past the bushes. It was there that I crouched down and opened my bag, letting Chara slither out onto the ground and away into the undergrowth. I sat down, comfortable in the shelter position I found myself in, and took a long deep breath. The wind was low and slight, and produced a light cold breeze that ruffled my hair relaxingly. I opened my eyes to look out over the forbidden forest just in time to see light disappearing through the trees. I frowned. It had almost looked like headlights… The image of a spinning little blue car doing doughnuts in the dirt sprang to mind, although I thought I had been hallucinating the sight. There can't really be a little blue car driving around in the Forbidden Forest, can there? But if there is a car there, then who's driving it? Hang on, didn't Harry and Ron arrive in a car this year? Yes, I'm sure they did – they were late because they crashed it into the Whomping Willow…

I stood and began to walk down the hill slowly, and the headlights came back into view. I ducked, but didn't have anything to duck behind as the headlights scanned the ground, disappeared, returned, span and disappeared again.

I stood slowly, cautiously, and started walking towards it. I could see the headlights quite clearly, illuminating the outline of the car. The engine was rumbling, the frame of the car jittering and shaking slightly, the headlights bright and blaring, but it had stopped moving, as if it expected me to walk up to it. All right, and whoever your driver is, I'll play along.

I walked up slowly to the driver's side door as the car revved. I looked in the window and then furrowed my brow when I saw there was no driver. I took my dagger from my boot, looking around. Whoever they are, or were, they could be around here somewhere. The car was only moving a few minutes ago. If this is an ambush they've messed with the wrong girl. But if there's no driver, then how is the car revving?

I opened the door, looking around me carefully, and checked the backseat. No one was there, so with a frown, I got in, shutting the car door behind me. I've never sat in the driver's seat of a car before. I've sat in the driver's seat of a bus right before I crashed it into a fountain, but that's another story.

I pursed my lips into a thin line, watching for anyone coming up behind me in the mirrors, when the car started to move. The pedals worked by themselves as I let out a surprised yelp, the wheels turning over bumpy ground, the car driving itself through the forest. I buckled my seatbelt just before going over a particularly large bump. I cursed and held tight onto the steering wheel, for my own sanity rather than any practical reason – the steering wheel was moving anyway when the car didn't want it to.

I heard the screaming then, and realised the car was taking me back into the spiders den. The car engine revved and roared over the top of a hill, and I saw two figures and a dog surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands of spiders. Harry and Ron. I put my foot down on what I thought was the accelerator pedal, although I sensed the car was already sorting it, hitting spiders and knocking them over the top of the car as we went. I beeped the horn loudly, and the spiders cleared (though not far enough away for comfort).

"Get in!" I barked, opening the doors as they both stared at me in astonishment. They didn't stand staring at me and the car long though before running to us, Harry and the dog jumping into the back, Ron in the front.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" the redhead demanded.

"I could ask you the same thing," I replied as the car's gearbox jerked. I pushed it back as it got stuck. The spiders were already coming back, one as big as the car jumping onto the roof.

"Get us out of here!" Harry hollered.

"I'm trying! This is the first time I've driven a car!" I yelled back. The car put itself into reverse for me as I kept my foot the whole way down on the accelerator. We shot off backwards up the hill the way I had come. Then we were over the hill, and the spiders were gone. It seemed like we were in the clear. The three of us grinned in shock.

"Glad we're out of there," Ron said. In less than a second the sound of broken glass filled the car as Ron began screaming, a spider clutching his neck, legs holding him back. My dagger sprang to hand as I leant over in one swift motion and stabbed the spider through the head. It flopped onto the side of the window without even having time to squeal before the car sprang to life again and took us back the other way. Ron was pale and shaking.

"Are you alright Ron?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ron whimpered. I sighed and looked back in front of us, only to see the spiders were back, lining the hill and hanging from the trees.

"Time to go!" I said quickly, and the car, seemingly understanding, reversed off again at full speed.

"Come on go faster!" Harry yelled, watching from the back. The car span itself around and simultaneously put itself into first gears, speeding off. But the spiders were still there, right on our tails. When I ran from them the other day they were definitely not as big or as fast as this. I think I would probably be dead if they were.

"Get us in the air!" Harry hollered.

"What?!" It's a _car_ Harry not an aeroplane! But Ron was moving to one of the sticks near the gearbox, grabbing it and trying to pull it up with all his might.

"The flying gear's jammed!" He cried. Spiders were at every angle despite the fact that we were still moving. And there was a fallen tree trunk up ahead.

I grabbed the 'flying gear' with him and pulled, and the wheels lifted off the ground, hitting a few spiders on the way. Harry and Ron screamed as it happened, and I may have screamed a little myself, although I wasn't entirely sure.

Then we were in the air, wobbling and shaking and I was definitely _not_ comfortable. I was glad of the seatbelt tucked tightly around me, but didn't know how safe it would be if the door suddenly opened and the car decided to pull a rollercoaster move. Thankfully it didn't and we landed with a crash on the edge of the Forbidden Forest next to Hagrid's hut. The car rolled to a halt, all four wheels, although dented, muddy and probably more than a little worse for wear, were on the ground. I got out of the car straight away and took a deep breath. Ron, Harry and the dog (who was barking loudly, presumably happy not to be dog dinner) were also getting out of the car.

"Follow the spiders! Follow the spiders! If Hagrid ever gets out of Azkaban I'll kill him!" Ron yelled angrily.

"Shh, we're not supposed to be out here," I said, caution already setting in – those headlights flying over the forbidden forest must have attracted some attention. And then I realised what he'd said. "Hang on – Hagrid's in Azkaban?"

"He got taken there this evening," Harry explained "they think it's him who's been opening the chamber of secrets. And Dumbledore's been sacked."

"_Sacked_?" I said in shock "They've _sacked_ Dumbledore?!"

"It was Lucius Malfoy who did it," Ron said angrily. He was pacing, still working the shock out of his system. He stopped pacing quickly enough when the car revved its engine, making us all look at it, and began to drive off back into the forest.

"I mean what was the point of sending us in _there_?" Ron said disbelievingly. "What have we found out?"

"We know one thing – Hagrid never opened the chamber of secrets. He was innocent."

"Well duh," I muttered under my breath, and then promptly regretted, as both boys turned to look at me. "What?"

"What did you mean by that Midnight?" Harry asked.

"Well it's not rocket science," I answered him simply "The Slytherin common room is full of tapestries of Salazar Slytherin and famous Slytherin students. Hagrid looks nothing like any of them. Not to mention he's hardly the Slytherin type – honest, friendly, gentle, loves animals. Any of those fit the 'sly and cunning' description the hat gave us in first year?" Harry and Ron looked at each other.

"And you fit that description perfectly?" Ron said suspiciously.

"When I have to," I answered simply "What are you two doing out here anyway?"  
"We came to talk to Hagrid, and then saw him get taken away. He told us to 'follow the spiders'. So we did."

"Right," I said, raising an eyebrow.

"What are you doing out here?" Ron asked.

"Evening jog," I responded "I saw the headlights at the edge of the forest as I was passing and decided to investigate." I sighed "Anyway I think I've had enough shocks for one day. I'm going to go back to my common room. If you two want to get back into the school without getting caught, I suggest you follow me." I started walking, and the pair quickly followed.

"What do you mean 'enough shocks for one day'?" Harry asked. I looked to him.

"I would have thought you would have been one of the first to know. Has no one told you yet?"

"What do you mean?"

"Hermione's been petrified."

"We know." Ron said quickly "What does that have to do with you?" I frowned.  
"Well, I was the one who found her."  
"What?!"

"I found her, and the other girl, as I was going into the library. Scared me half to death."

"Did you see anything, anyone?" Harry asked quickly.

"No," I answered "the corridor was empty apart from them. I ran into the library and got the librarian to get help. It's not been a good day, all in all."

"What were you doing before you found her?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"Sitting in the common room. It was getting loud so I decided to study in the library instead." Neither of them said anything for a moment, but they shared a look.

"We should stay quiet now," I muttered "someone might catch us if we're not."

"Where are we even going? Is it a secret tunnel or something?" Ron asked.

"Yep, a magical secret tunnel called 'a window'." I said sarcastically, and he gave me a little glare. I ignored him and carried on, crouching slightly as I walked before the window came in sight.

"Get down and stay low," I whispered "come one." I led the way to the bottom of the window. There were no torches lit, so I stood a little and tucked my fingers under the slightly open window pane to pull it up. I leant in, and looked around before climbing in.

"Come on, it's clear," I whispered, and Harry and Ron followed me. I shut the window fully behind them.

"Your common room is to the left from here, mine's to the right," I whispered "If anyone gets caught, we never saw each other." Harry and Ron nodded in agreement, and I left them without saying another word.


	29. It's Her'

**DUN DUN DUNNNNN! Drama time! I split up this chapter and the next chapter just so they can get updated on time and it doesn't take an age to write and read. This chapter is from Harry's point of view, next chapter will probably be mostly if not all Midnight's.**

**Enjoy!**

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Ron and I went down to the hospital wing the following evening after dinner to see Hermione. A lump climbs to my throat and sits there every time I see her, frozen, shock on her face, eyes wide open but not seeing us.

I sighed as Ron sat down next to her while I changed her flowers from the dying ones that were already there when she came, to a new bouquet of white blossoms. I sat down on the other side of the bed from Ron and we looked to each other sadly.

"Wish you were here, Hermione," I said to her, half muttering, knowing she couldn't hear me. "We need you. Now more than ever." Ron sighed in agreement as I rested my hand on Hermione's. It was cold, as solid as stone. A shudder went through me, making my hand jerk a little. I felt a rustle in Hermione's palm and frowned.

I reached into her palm and felt something scrunched up. I pulled it out, furrowing my brow as I opened it. Ron was watching me carefully.

"What's that?" he asked. Open now, I turned it over, and frowned. "What?" Ron asked again.

"Ron…"

"Knock-knock," a voice said from across the wing. Our heads shot up to look at the doors where Midnight was stood, leaning on the door. I quickly scrunched up the parchment and stuffed it in my pocket. She stopped leaning on the door and walked over.

"What are you doing here?" Ron asked, a little harshly. I didn't scold him.

"I came to see how Hermione was doing, and how you two are doing."

"Why would you care how we're doing?" Ron said, and she looked at him. I stayed quiet.

"Well we did almost get killed by giant spiders yesterday," she responded with a glance in my direction. She's probably wondering why I'm not saying anything.

"We're fine." I said bluntly. By the time it had left my mouth I realised it sounded a little cold. She raised an eyebrow.

"Okay," she said slowly "does someone want to tell me what's going on?"

"I'll tell you what's going on," Ron said, standing "Hermione was sure for ages that it was you doing all this, and then she ends up as the next one petrified."

"She thought it was me?" Midnight asked, and her face turned a little confused. "Why would I do that? Even if I was the heir of Slytherin, which I'm not, why would I want to kill muggle borns. I grew up with muggles, I know more about them than anyone else in my house. I wouldn't kill them." She looked to me "Harry, you know just as much as me what death is. My dad is dead, and both your parents are dead. You believe me, right? You know I wouldn't do this." She was looking to me for support, over Ron. I didn't answer. Ron looked at me, and by now even he was a little confused. Midnight scoffed.

"Fine," she said bluntly "I guess Draco was right about you guys." She turned on her heel and strode off, closing both doors behind her. Ron looked to me. I looked to my lap, and then pulled the piece of parchment out of my pocket and re-opened it.

"Harry?" I looked to him.

"This is why Hermione was in the library the day she was attacked. She figured out what it is. And who's doing it." Ron was standing up straight, watching me with wide eyes.

"Well!?" I turned the parchment over so he could see. From the top to the middle there was writing and a picture of the monster, as if the page had been torn from a textbook, and then on the bottom, two messages, one smaller than the other. The smaller: 'pipes'. The larger written in capital letters: 'IT'S HER'.

Ron and I looked at each other, and Ron had paled slightly.

"Come on," I said, standing. I wanted to talk as we walk back to the common room. I don't want to stay here a minute longer. I tried to settle my nerves by reading the information Hermione had found.

"Of the many fearsome beasts that roam our land none is more deadly than the basilisk. Capable of living for hundreds of years, instant death awaits any who meet this giant serpent's eye. Spiders flee before it. Ron, this is definitely it – it all fits. The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a basilisk. That's why I can hear it speak, it's a snake."

"But if it kills by looking people in the eye, who come no one's dead?" Ron asked, and I frowned. That's a good point, no one is dead, but the only way that people can't have died, and yet have still been petrified must be…"

"Because no one did look it in the eye," I told Ron as I thought about it. "Not directly at least. Colin saw it through his camera, and Justin… he must have seen the basilisk _through_ nearly headless Nick. Nick got the full blast of it. But he's a ghost, he couldn't die again. And Hermione had the mirror. I'll bet you anything she was using it to look around corners just in case it came along!"

"And Mrs Norris? I'm pretty sure she didn't have a camera or a mirror, Harry."

"The water," I said, remembering "there was water on the floor that night. She only saw the basilisk's reflection. It all fits."

"But how's a basilisk been getting around? A dirty great snake, someone would have seen it."

"Hermione's answered that too," I said, pointing to her note on the bottom of the parchment.

"Pipes? It's using the plumbing?!"

"Remember what Aragog said about that girl fifty years ago?" I said, an idea springing to mind. "He said she died in a bathroom. What if she never left?"

"Moaning Myrtle?" Ron whispered, and I nodded. I was seconds away from suggesting we go there right that second to talk to her, to see if she had seen Midnight going in and out of the bathroom, when an announcement disturbed us.

"_All students are to return to their house dormitories at once. All teachers to the second floor corridor immediately_." The announcement was cut as Ron and I looked to each other, and headed off for the second floor corridor.

We arrived there just after the teachers, and stayed around the corner close to the wall so they wouldn't see us.

"As you can see," Professor McGonagall was saying "the heir of Slytherin has left another message. Our worst fear has been realised: a student has been taken by the monster into the chamber itself. The students must be sent home, I'm afraid this is the end of Hogwarts." At that moment we saw Professor Lockhart walk up to the rest of the teachers, looking cheerful.

"So sorry, dozed off. What have I missed?"

"A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. It seems your moment has come at last."

"My moment?" Lockhart said with a frown and slight stutter.

"Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?" Snape said strongly. There was a pause.

"Well that's settled. We'll leave you to deal with the monster, Gilderoy. Your skills after all, are legend." Professor McGonagall said, equally strongly. Lockhart looked at them both.

"Very well, I'll be in my office getting… getting ready." He turned and walked off as Madam Pomfrey began to speak.

"Who is it the monster's taken Minerva?" She asked McGonagall. The Professor looked at her sadly.

"Ginny Weasley." She answered, as Ron and I froze. The teachers began to move off down the corridor, revealing the message written in blood that they had been covering.

"'Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever'." Ron whimpered "Ginny."


	30. Conflicted

**Hello :) This didn't turn out as dramatic as I wanted it to, but anger is coming in the next chapter. Lots of anger. Yay! Anyway, I hope you like it.**

**Enjoy!**

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I strode away from the hospital wing, not angry exactly, but worried. Yeah, quite worried. It doesn't sound like Hermione's told them about what went on the night I threatened her, but whatever she's said has definitely got through to Harry. Of course I would expect Ron to believe anything negative she said about me, he's always been suspicious. Out of all of them he's the only one never to really have bought anything I said, so I would expect him to listen to her. But I didn't expect anything they said to get through to Harry. After all, he's always acted like there's a connection between us, as both of us have lost parents (or so he thinks) and we were both from muggle backgrounds, both new to magic. And I've used that 'connection' to my advantage. I have to make sure it stays that way. I know that if dad wants to kill him, or worse wants me to kill him, then manipulating him to think we're friends is both a blessing and a curse.

I sighed and ruffled my hair before clicking my neck and knuckles. I walked quietly through the corridors and had nearly reached the common room when I heard the announcement.

"_All students are to return to their house dormitories at once. All teachers to the second floor corridor immediately._" I frowned, standing just outside the portrait hole, and then shrugged and walked in. They've probably found another petrified person, or worse if they're wanting everyone inside their common rooms and all the teachers in one place. It's none of my business, I told myself. None of my business. Everyone seemed to look at me I walked into the common room.

"Have you seen what's going on?" Someone yelled from across the common room at me.

"No, I've no idea," I called back. Everyone seemed to sigh at the lack of information I had given them, and soon returned to what they had been doing. I walked over and sat by Draco.

"Where were you?" he asked.

"Talking to Harry," I replied. He scowled.

"I don't know how you can stand him."

"Funny, he says that about you." Draco scowled again, and then looked around. "Do you know what all that was about?" He asked, lowering his voice.

"No," I shrugged "I haven't seen or heard anything since I left Harry and Ron."

"Weasley," Draco scoffed, looking like he wanted to spit. Then he paused. "You don't think that's what all this is about, do you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe they've found Potter and Weasley too. Maybe that's what that announcement was about." He looked very excited, which I thought was a little naïve. If Draco had seen death like I have, or thought I had, he wouldn't be wishing it on people so readily.

"Could be," I shrugged in reply. He turned to Crabbe and Goyle and began an excessive conversation about how much he hoped and thought and was absolutely one hundred percent positive that his theory on Harry and Ron's demise at the hands of Slytherin's monster was correct. I ignored him as best I could, watching others go about their business. It was a short while later, long after I had got bored, that the portrait hole opened again, and Professor Snape walked into the room. Everyone stared at him for a moment, until he glared at us, and then they went back to their business, only half-watching him. He caught my eye and made a quick subtle gesture to follow him out, before he left. I frowned and rolled my eyes, although inside my stomach was twisting nervously. What if it is Harry and Ron they've found? What if they are…

"I'll be back in a minute," I muttered to Draco, who wasn't paying attention in the slightest, and then stood. I walked casually, trying to hide my urgency, to the portrait hole, and then left the common room. Professor Snape was waiting for me on the corner.

"What is it?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"A girl has been snatched by the monster and taken into the chamber," he said solemnly. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"What?"

"This could be the closure of Hogwarts, and the girl is most certainly dead. You need to tell me what you have found out about the imposter who is opening the chamber of secrets. We may at least be able to retrieve her corpse for the family."

"Wait a minute, who got taken?" He frowned.

"Ginny Weasley," he responded. Of course. Of course it would be Ginny Weasley. She wasn't taken, she walked in voluntarily. But why? I mean, I know dad would have been controlling her but why try to pull off such an elaborate and dangerous… Harry. It's a trap, and Ginny's the bait. He wants to get Harry into the chamber so he can use the basilisk to kill him. Oh no.

"She wasn't taken," I told him "she was possessed, and walked in there herself. She's acting as bait."

"Bait?" Professor Snape questioned.

"I worked it out a while back, I've even been inside the chamber and talked to the monster myself. But think, professor, who else is an heir of Slytherin? There's me, and one other."

"The Dark Lord," Professor Snape responded instantly. I nodded.

"He's trying to get to Harry, that's why he's taken Ginny now before the end of the year. He knows he doesn't have many opportunities left, and with Professor Dumbledore gone…" I sighed. "I'm going in after them."

"I don't think so," Professor Snape responded instantly. "The monster could kill you on sight, not to mention you could reveal your identity. I'll go into the Chamber and sort this, I have more experience than you."

"You don't know where it is," I said back "and Harry's more likely to listen to me than you."

"No. You'll return to the common room while I go to the Chamber. If Potter can find it, I'm sure I'll have no problem." He turned on his heel, cape billowing behind him.

"Professor stop," I said calmly, feeling so guilty already as my charm speak forced him to stop in his tracks. I've never used it this forcefully before, but this is something I have to do. I sighed and walked up to him.

"I'm sorry, professor, but I can't let you go. I'll make sure Harry and Ginny are safe. I promise." He was watching me with a near frozen face that was both worried, confused and furious at the same time. "Just give me half an hour. If we're not back by then, you can do what you like. The Chamber is in the second floor girls' bathroom, inside the sinks. It needs parseltongue to open it, so I won't close it behind me." I took a few steps away, and then turned again. "I am sorry, professor." I said finally, and then ran off. Whilst running to the chamber, a thought struck me. Professor Snape is a supporter of my father, so not only might he not want to let Harry leave in the first place, but I've also just admitted to him, almost subconsciously, that I plan on saving Harry. I don't' know what I'll do if it actually comes to it, but I don't want anyone to die today.

I cursed when I finally reached the girls' bathroom, only the find the sinks were already open. Harry and Ron had already gone in. Cursing in a string of fluent Greek profanities, I walked up to the edge and sat myself down before sliding in. The familiar slide was now much darker, much tenser and much more unpleasant. The moment I saw the light I slowed myself, so that I landed much quieter and much less painfully than I would have if I had been falling at full speed.

The first thing I heard was my own, slightly panicked breath that was quickly calming as my instinct took over my worried mind, soothing it like a caring mother soothing a wailing infant. I started walking forwards – it seemed like the most logical way they would have gone – and entered the room with the basilisk's shed skin. I walked past it without looking, and then heard voices.

"Heart of a lion, this one," I heard Ron say just before I rounded the corner. I stopped immediately as both his and Harry's wands pointed at me. I saw an unconscious Professor Lockhart on the floor, and put my hands up in a surrendering gesture.

"Midnight?" Harry said, sounding a little shocked. He was stood further down than Ron and Lockhart, towards the end of this section of tunnel. I already know that beyond him is the chamber.

"I knew it," Ron said harshly.

"It's not what you think," I said to them "I saw you coming down here and followed you,"

"You followed us?" Harry questioned "why?"

"You're both going to get yourselves killed if you carry on," I told them as calmly as I could. They were both still pointing their wands at me. "Why not go back up and tell the teachers what we know. Or, you know, the _competent_ teachers. Let them deal with the monster."

"My sister's down here," Ron practically spat at me.

"And what if she's dead, Ron?"

"Don't say that!"

"Do you really want to be the one walking in on that?"

"I said don't say that!" Ron hollered "My sister is not dead! She's alive, and we're going to save her!"

"Shhh," Harry and I said simultaneously "we don't want the basilisk to hear us, or we're all dead." I said at the end. Ron's face was bright red, his crooked wand getting ever closer to my throat. We didn't have chance to argue more as Lockhart jumped up, snatching Ron's wand from his hand, before pointing it between the three of us.

"Well well well," he said, his usually 'perfect' hair a dust filled dirt ridden mess, cloak slightly torn, and face a little crazy. Great, now the teacher's a psychopath.

"The adventure ends here," he said "But don't fret. The world will know our story. How I was too late to save the girl, how you two tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body." Yeah, it's probably not a good idea to be suggesting Ginny's death right after the reaction I've just had. "So, you first, Mr Potter. Say goodbye to your memories." I can't reach my dagger without making it look obvious. This can't really be it, can it? Stopped by _Lockhart_, of all people. Well, at least he doesn't plan on moving any further forward, even if we have no memories, at least dad won't have killed any of us. Then I remembered the wand he's holding is Ron's.

"Obliviate!" He yelled, causing green light to start from the wand only to rebound onto him, throwing him up into the air with a little surprised holler. His body slammed against the wall and fell to the ground, before the tunnel began to shake slightly and then rocks began to fall from the ceiling in a landslide, dust rocketing into the air as the sound of the tunnel above collapsing filled our ears. Eventually the rocks stopped falling, and as the dust slowly cleared, I realised that Ron, Lockhart and I were on one side, and Harry was on the other.

"Harry!" Ron called out. There was no response. "Harry?!"

"Ron! Is everyone ok?!" Harry yelled back, and I breathed a breath of relief I didn't realise I had been holding.

"I'm fine," he answered.

"I'm ok too," I added. At that moment Lockhart sat up, and looked at the two of us.

"Hello," he said pleasantly. "Who are you?" he looked to Ron.

"Er, Ron Weasley," Ron replied, looking a little confused.

"Really? And who am I?"

"Lockhart's memory charm backfired!" Ron yelled to Harry "He hasn't got a clue who he is."

"It's an odd sort of place isn't it," Lockhart said, completely oblivious. "Do you live here?"

"I'll handle this," I said with a mutter before picking up a rock off the ground and striding over to Lockhart. With one quick and rather hard hit of the rock over his head, he was unconscious again.

"There, sorted." Ron looked at me, and then chose to focus on Harry again.

"What do I do now?" he yelled to Harry.

"You wait here and try to shift some of this rock so we can get back through," Harry instructed. "I'll go on and find Ginny."

"Ok," Ron nodded, and the last thing I heard was Harry's footsteps as he walked across the bone littered ground out of the tunnel.

"He's going to get himself killed, you know that don't you?" I said seriously to Ron, who gave me a little glare, although it seemed like he was only glaring because he didn't want to be told what he was fearing.

"You can stay here and shift rocks if you want, but I'm going to try to find another way around so we can help him."

"I'm not going anywhere until these rocks are moved," Ron muttered, moving towards them. He put his hands around one and tried to lift it with a grunt, only to struggle to even lift it from the others. I scoffed in frustration.

"You're never going to be able to move those. I'm going."

"Going where?" Ron asked, leaving the rock and turning to face me.

"We have to find another way around."

"Are you kidding! We'll get lost down here!"  
"I think you'll find my sense of direction is impeccable," I replied, before turning around and walking back, taking a left. I know generally where the chamber is – as long as we don't start going in circles, it should be fine. After a moment, Ron gave a grunt of frustration, and ran after me. Ron didn't say anything much, probably still suspicious and angry.

"Look, I wasn't being mean when I was talking about Ginny. I'm just trying to think of all the possible outcomes of this mess. You need to prepare yourself for the worst, that way if it is, you're ready, and if it's not, the reunion will only be better." I said as we walked.

"Do you know what Hermione said about you before she got petrified?" he scowled at me "she said she knows it's you. And I believe her."

"I see no reason why you shouldn't, apart from the fact that it's actually _not_ me doing this, of course. But you wouldn't believe me no matter how many times I told you. Even if I shoved proof right under your nose, right in front of your face, you wouldn't believe me." He didn't say anything. But that didn't mean there was nothing to hear.

"_Kill him. Obey only me._"

"_Yes, master,"_ the basilisk was talking to my father. And now it's out to kill. I knew it. I knew it. Harry's not going to leave here alive.

"Remember if you hear or see any movement close your eyes straight away." I whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" Ron asked at normal voice level.

"Shhh," I whispered quickly back. I lightened my footsteps as best I could but Ron's remained the same noisy, crunching plods. I began to regret bringing him. I should have left him with Lockhart, maybe knocked him out too for good measure.

The tunnel ended, revealing three new tunnels, each lined with water.

"We're never going to be able to keep quiet in all that water," I muttered.

"Like I said, we should have stayed where we were. Harry and Ginny could be there now."

"I don't think so," I muttered, looking at the water. If the basilisk is nearby the moment we enter that water we're as good as dead. But at the same time, if the basilisk is in the water as well then we'll be able to hear it, although I wouldn't fancy our odds of getting away, especially in Ron's in front. I haven't heard it nearby, but that doesn't mean it's not here – it could be on a dry patch of tunnel avoiding talking so Harry doesn't know where it is. I sighed.

"It's too risky, we'll have to find another way around." I muttered.

"What's risky about that?" Ron asked stupidly. I have him an unimpressed look and raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Just be quiet. Come on let's find another way around."

"Oh no, you're on your own. I'm going to go back to where we left Harry, and I'm going to wait there until he gets back."  
"Suit yourself." I retorted. I was about to turn around, when I heard the sound of splashing echoing from down the pipe.

"What-"

"Shhh," I whispered.

"_I'm going to find you…_" the basilisk hissed.

"We have to go, now." I whispered "and keep quiet." Ron nodded, obviously he heard the sounds as well. We turned and walked back the way we had come, and this time both our footsteps were quiet. I took us back to the site of the rockslide with ease, no more suspicious sounds being heard. I hope Harry's alright. I need to get in there to… to do something.

"Right, I'm going to stay here, and do what Harry said to do, which was to clear this path so they can get back through. You can help me or you can go off and get yourself lost and killed, I don't care. But I'm staying here."

"You're wasting time," I insisted.

"No, you're wasting time," he said turning on me "the sooner these rocks get moved the sooner we can leave. I just want my sister and my friend back and listening to you hasn't got us anywhere." He turned, face bright red, and tried to move the rocks he had been struggling with earlier. I sighed in frustration. What do I do? I need to get through into the chamber, but this way, the faster way, is blocked up and the other basilisk could be in any of the other tunnels. But moving these rocks could take ages, and I just don't have the time. Unless…

"Oh my gods, I'm so stupid," I muttered to myself, making Ron turn to me.

"Did you just admit you're stupid?"

"Shut up," I muttered, pulling my wand out of my pocket. I guess not relying a lot on magic has kind of made me forget that magic is incredibly useful! I tried to think of a spell, and remembered one Hermione used ages ago in the Gryffindor vs Slytherin match.

"_Finite Incantartum!_" The rocks in front of us disintegrated, causing a mini-rockslide of all the rocks that had been sitting on it.

"You had your wand this whole time?!"

"Well I'm using it now, aren't I!?" I retorted, disintegrating a few more rocks, opening the way. I hurried through the large gap I had created, just as a loud 'thud' rang through the tunnel.

"Hey wait!" Ron called after me, and then the screaming began. _Oh no_.

"Come on!" I called, beginning to run. The snake door was wide open, and I jumped through, landing on the floor with a grunt. Harry and Ginny were sat up, a large majestic red bird stood between them, at the end of the chamber before the head statue. I ran forwards, and heard Ron running right behind me.

"Harry! Ginny!" Ron called. They looked up at us as we reached them.

"Are you alright?" I asked. Harry was holding his arm, where his robes were torn, but he nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Fawkes healed me." Fawkes the phoenix, I realised as the bird raised his head proudly. Ron had crouched down by Ginny, fussing her to check she was alright. I was the first out of the two of us to notice the basilisk, head upside down on the ground, body leading into the water eyes bloodied, blinded.

"Oh my Gods," I muttered "Harry, did you..?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"How in Merlin's name did you manage to do that?" I asked, dumbfounded. He picked up a long silver sword from beside him.

"Fawkes brought it to me. He blinded the basilisk too."

"Wow," I muttered "good work." He smiled and nodded. How in Hades name did Harry Potter, someone with absolutely no sword skills or practice manage to defeat a 1000 year old basilisk with that thing?

"Did you find out who the heir was?" Ron asked. Ginny and Harry shared a look.

"It was Voldemort," Harry answered solemnly.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Is he still here?" I looked between them, but Harry shook his head.

"No. He was in the diary. I destroyed it."

"Oh," I said, a little numbly. "Good job." He smiled and nodded again. I don't really know what to think of that. Dad's gone… again.


	31. Grieving

**Almost done! One maybe two chapters left and that's it! I'm sorry if that last chapter wasn't what you expected or was a little dissapointing, I just didn't want it to be one of those chapters where the protagonist just does everything that Harry does during that scene, or go all Mary-Jane and crap. I'd rather it was different and a little dissapointing than the same as every other fanfiction and super boring because you've seen it so many times already.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Fawkes flew us all out a few minutes after, with the professors, madam Pomfrey and (surprisingly) Professor Dumbledore. The three of us were ushered to Dumbledore's office while Lockhart was sent straight to St Mungo's hospital and Ginny to the hospital wing to be checked over.

Dumbledore spoke to Ginny in the hospital wing first, and then came up to meet us, before telling us we'd be given special services to the school awards. I was sent away to my common room, whilst Ron was sent away with a letter to send to Azkaban to order Hagrid's release. It was all very surreal, and for me, quite unpleasant. I felt incredibly nervous standing before Dumbledore, even though I hadn't helped my dad in the end. I don't think Dumbledore even knows who I am when it comes to my parentage. Professor Snape, the Malfoys and this Bellatrix woman who raised me all know that Voldemort is my father, but the only two people who know about me being a demi-god are me, and Nemesis herself. And I plan to keep it that way.

It was odd though, as I was leaving I passed Lucius Malfoy. He nodded to me, and I nodded back, but we didn't speak. I thought that maybe he was here because Dumbledore was back, after all it was Mr Malfoy who removed him. But it unnerved me somehow. It seems like I'm missing something, something really obvious, and it's driving me mad. I still hadn't worked it out by the following evening, when we sat down for an evening feast in celebration of both the Chamber's closure and the return of the people who had been petrified after Professor Sprout's mandrake stew healed them.

Dumbledore stood before the feast began and addressed the hall. As usual the mere movement of him standing was enough to silence us into listening, while Harry, Ron and (an unpetrified) Hermione sat down at Gryffindor table.

"Before me begin the feast let us have a round of applause for Professor Sprout and Madam Pomfrey who's Mandrake juice has been so successfully administered to all who had been petrified." We applauded, the victims of the basilisk and their friends creating most of the noise. I noticed Draco, Crabbe and Goyle didn't clap.

"Also in light of recent events, as a school treat: all exams have been cancelled." Cheers went up from around the hall. It doesn't really effect me – exams have never been my forte, and I don't care if I fail them. I've always been bad at exams, and have no idea what I want to do in the future. I always just kind of imagined myself living rogue, killing monsters for a living you know? You don't need exam results for that.

Dumbledore sat down, and we were about to tuck into our food when the Great Hall doors opened dramatically, revealing Hagrid standing behind them.

"Sorry I'm late," he said loudly before walking into the room. "The owl that delivered my release papers got all lost and confused. Some ruddy bird called Errol." Wasn't Ron supposed to be sorting Hargid's release papers? No wonder it got messed up. Hagrid stopped when he reached Harry, Ron and Hermione at the Grffindor table and turned to them. He tried to speak quietly, but as the hall was so quiet itself, everyone heard anyway.

"I'd just like to say that if it hadn't been for you Harry, and Ron, and Hermione of course, that I would, er, I'd still be you-know-where so, I'd just like to say thanks." He sounded as if he was tearing up, and Harry stood.

"It wouldn't be Hogwarts without you Hagrid," he said sappily, before hugging him. Dumbledore stood and for some reason began clapping. The teachers around him joined in, and Harry broke off the hug to clap too. Before I knew it the whole hall was clapping, and I joined in, and then they were all standing, but I stayed seated. I'm not in the mood to be part of any joyous reunions right now.

Eventually everyone settled down, and Professor Dumbledore declared the start of the feast while Hagrid went to take his place at the head table. As everyone ate around me, chatting and laughing and looking forward to the train home in two weeks, I started to think again. What about Lucius Malfoy has me so concerned? What am I missing that I should be able to clearly see? It's unnerving, and aggravating. He's done something that I should be able to work out, and yet I can't. My mind's blank. It's almost like I'm grieving for the loss of my dad, again. This is the third time. The first was a false memory, but the man in that memory still held the position of my father, I still grieved over him, swore to avenge him. And then last year when I discovered that that memory was false, and began to grieve over the fact that I'd lost my father before I'd met him properly, even if he had been in the back of Professor Quirrell's head. And now, in a diary, a young Voldemort is gone as well. I didn't even get to properly talk to him. He didn't know me, didn't remember me. It was almost like the diary was created when my father was that age, and preserved. Before he actually became Lord Voldemort, even though he knew that's what his future held. He didn't know I'd be in his future though. And now he's gone too.

"Hi," a little voice disturbed me from my thoughts, making me look up. Daphne was stood there, holding her plate. "Can I sit down? We need to talk." I shrugged.

"Yeah, sure." She sat and looked at me as I poked my own food with my fork. The people sat around us were too engrossed in their own conversations to pay much attention to us.

"So, it wasn't you?" she said eventually.

"No it wasn't," I answered.

"You were telling the truth?"

"I was." I nodded, still lying now.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry for suspecting you."

"You weren't the only one."

"I'm still not going to be your friend again though."

"Naturally."

"Nothing's changed."

"I wouldn't have expected it to." We locked eyes for a moment, and then Daphne nodded and moved off to sit back with Pansy and the others. I don't really want to be friends with Daphne again. I prefer to be on my own, with no one prying into my private business. Where I don't have to report back to someone every five minutes like I did with her, or like it felt I did. I'm looking forwards to seeing Alex again: as a fellow demi-god, he understands privacy, the ADHD, the dyslexia, and the need for something instinctual to do. Something to hunt. Something to kill. His father is the god of war, my mother the goddess of justice and revenge. I'd say those two were a pretty good pair. I like Alex, he can be a bit of a jerk, but he's taught me a lot, and he seems to have warmed up to me a little. I can't wait to show him some new tricks – in the room of the requirement for the past few months I've been trying to do a chameleon impression, you know where they just blend into their backgrounds? The only problem with that is that clothes don't change colour, and it takes a lot of concentration – it's usually all I'm focusing on, so it'll be a while before I can use it in combat, but it should be good. I've got quite good at hand to hand combat, so I wonder what I'll be taught this summer.


	32. Back

**I'm sorry if there are any spelling errors, I had to type this whole thing up on a tablet and email it to myself and there's this stupid autocorrect that was changing practically every word I wrote. I've looked through it but if I missed any I'm sorry. Also this is the last chapter of the story! This is the end! Yay! And now I leave for a week long holiday, double yay! It's a little abrupt, but the last bit has meaning, I feel, and will be playing a very large part in the sequel which will be fifth year! I'll post an A/N talking about that after though :)**

**I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The final day of school seemed to take forever to get here, but by the time it did nothing had changed. Around me everyone was normal again. Harry had spoken to me once, to apologise for accusing me. I told him it was water under the bridge and that he shouldn't worry about it. He had seemed pleased with that answer at the time. Hermione, as expected, hasn't said a word to me, occasionally glancing in my direction to glare at me. For the first day Ron seemed confused as to how to address me, but it didn't last long; by the second day he was right back to glaring at me along with Hermione. Harry's to be the only one of the three who likes me even a little bit, and I think the other two might be pestering him about it. To be honest I don't know how I'd feel if I pushed him out of the trio. With them around there'll always be that doubt about me, no matter what I'm doing or not doing, but being alone isn't for everyone. Besides, if he defended me to that extent he'd probably try to start hanging around with me, and that just wouldn't work out. As I said, being alone isn't for everyone, but it is definitely for me.  
When the train finally did come I was ready for it. I was ready to go back to the Malfoy's, where for the most part I can be myself, without worrying about someone watching me and getting me in trouble. Around there, I think I call a lot of the shots, being the daughter of their incredibly evil merciless leader. Sometimes it's a good thing. The day the train came was surprisingly warm, which didn't exactly dampen might slightly more hopeful mood, but it didn't help it either. I want to get 'home' but the fact that I have to spend a whole day in a little compartment with three boys, who will undoubtedly be sweaty in this heat, is not a pleasant one.  
I plastered on a neutral-but-slightly-happy-to-be-leaving expression as I got on the train and followed Draco into the compartment. I helped the boys with their bags, being the strongest one there, and then sat down next to the window across from Draco. The moment he opened his mouth I felt like screaming. I have to endure a whole day of 'muggles are awful' and 'I'll tell my father about this' and 'I can't believe they accused my father of bringing that stupid book into Hogwarts in the first place' and - wait, hang on a minute.  
"What did you just say?" I asked, sitting up in my seat. Draco frowned at me.  
"What?"  
"What did you just say?" I repeated.  
"Potter and Dumbledore accused my father of giving that possessed book to Weasley. And Potter set that runt of a house elf Dobby free. And" Draco sounded angry now as he sat up, going a little red in the face "they said he threatened all the governors to get rid of Dumbledore! Can you believe that!"  
"Yeah," I nodded "I would believe the threatening thing anyway. It sounds like something your dad would do if he wasn't getting his way." Draco went event redder. "What? Take it as a compliment - only the powerful can threaten successfully." He calmed down then, but I was getting angrier. Lucius Malfoy gave the diary the Ginny? Call me crazy but I don't think Lucius would have given Ginny that book out of the goodness of his heart. He will have known exactly what that diary was and what giving it to Ginny Weasley would do. He planned this, all of it. Apart from the bit where the diary was destroyed of course, apart from the bit where he was found out. And I bet he didn't plan what's going to happen to him once I get back there. Why did he do it? That stupid feud with the Weasley's that they have? That brawl in Flourish and Blotts at the end of summer? If my father made that diary, then he clearly made it for a reason. And now it's gone. If that's not for any good reason, like if Tom Riddle told him to do it, then when I get back, hell is going to be unleashed.

* * *

The moment the train pulled up in the station I saw Lucius standing on the platform. He still stood with his usual demeanour, but I guessed that he'd rather be anywhere but there. I knew I couldn't show my anger, if I'm going to, not yet. I have to wait until we're away from both the wizarding public and Draco.  
I got off the train and carried my bags onto the station, Chara staying quiet in my rucksack. Βοήθεια chirped a little in her cage, unhappy at suddenly being held captive after a year of freedom.

I could bearly look at him as we linked arms in silence. He apparated us back to the peace of Malfoy Manor, away from the bustling platform. I think he knew something was wrong when the house elves took my suitcases away and I didn't follow them to my room. Chara was in my backpack, sensing my anger, and gave a low hiss.  
"There's a rumour," I said casually after Draco had left for his room to examine the welcome home gifts his parents had undoubtedly left him in his room. My blood was boiling just under my skin, but I didn't want to let it out. Not yet. I'll do it slowly, over the whole summer, my own form of torture. "That is was you who put Tom Riddle's diary in Ginny Weasley's cauldron. You know the diary I'm talking about right? The one that was revealed to be containing my father in a younger form and possessing the Weasley girl into opening the Chamber of Secrets? You know the one." He didn't say anythinf, didn't even look at me. Maybe he's scared. I hope so.  
"Only, I'd say that doing such a thing would be very stupid. After all something that seems to have an imprint of the great Lord Voldemort being given willingly to a non-supporter by a man who is widely known to have supported my father in the war seems like an odd thing to do, in fact it seems downright silly. Especially when you of all people know that if my father created something like that it must have been for a purpose. And I guess I'm not the only one who would think that should he rise again he wouldn't look to favourably on the person who cost him something with that much power. Am I right?" I looked at him, and he made eye contact for a brief second before looking away.  
"I believed that the dark lord would have wanted me to protect such items until there was a use for them that might have resulted in his rising." Lucius said eventually.  
"So you just gave it away?"  
"I took every precaution I could."  
"You could have warned me," my voice came out as an aggressive hiss "you could have told me the chamber was going to be opened again, you could have told me you had put that diary in Ginny's possession. But you didn't."  
"Albums Dumbledore is a highly skilled legillimens. He would have read your mind instantly."  
"So you didn't think it a good idea to warn me about that either? If Dumbledore had got anywhere near the inside of my mind, he'd find out things a heck of a lot more troubling than the Chamber of Secrets being opened by a Weasley, trust me." I paused. "If you plan on doing anything like this in the future, warn me first. At least that way I'll know what to expect."  
"You don't think I can be trusted with the Dark Lord's affairs?" Lucius asked me seriously. I scoffed.  
"Trust is overrated."  
"He trusted us to take care of you, and you're turning out exactly as he'd want you."  
"I think you'll find that was my mother's doing." I retorted "She and my father are both quite alike."  
"Yes, I think I noticed the last time she visited."  
"The last time she visited! Don't make me laugh - she tamed herself for you two so she wouldn't freak you out. No," I looked him the eye again "normally she's much more... unusual."  
"How 'unusual'?"  
"More than you'll ever know, I expect." I shrugged. "Anyway, now that that conversation's out of the way you'd better watch yourself. Rumours are spreading, and there's no better medicine for chaos than the word of mouth." I tipped an imaginary hat to him, and carried on towards the gym area, when Alex said he would meet me when I got back. As expected, when I hope end the doors he was there, just putting his shirt back on from what I presumed had been over an hour of intense training. He turned to me when I walked in.  
"Back already?"  
"Yep, back to plague your summer." He laughed a little before picking up a bow and set of arrows.  
"Actually I think you're going to be plaguing the bunnies this summer."  
"What?"  
"I'm going to teach you how to track, how to hunt, and how to cook meat over a fire. They're skills you'll need to know if you're stuck on a quest in the middle of nowhere and every monster in any town or city nearby is out for your blood."  
"Or if you're on the run?"  
"I suppose. Why, you break any laws?"  
"Not yet."  
"Aw, still a goody two shoes?" He teased.  
"You wish."  
"Good," he said, handing me the bow and arrows. "You're going to need an attitude like that for killing those animals."  
"Am I reall going to kill them?" I asked, feeling suddenly a little unnerved. How is it that the thought or ripping out someone's tongue is satisfying, and yet the thought of a little rabbit on the end of this arrowhead is unsettling?  
"Well you're not going to eat the while they're alive," Alex retorted, picking up his own archery set. "If you're going to be a successful hunter there's something you have to realise: death is death. It happens to everyone and everything, apart from that lot up there of course" he said, gesturing to the sky. "The only thing that matters is how it happens. Do you make it slow and torturous, or quick and painless? It's your call when you're hunting. I'm sure Mr Bunny would be very happy for it to be quick and painless, which if you do it right, it will be." He looked at me. "Are you with me?"  
"Yeah," I said thoughtfully, pondering over this new perspective and what it might mean for me. "I'm with you."


	33. Hello (AN)

**Hello readers! If you've made it this far then congratulations on finishing my sequel story! Yay! Applause all around! Anyway, for those of you who weren't already aware I do a different HP/PJ crossover series on Quotev, so I'm alternating between this series and that one, and guess what? It's that one's turn now! I hope to finish that realistically by Christmas, or at least the New Year, so when that one's done, the sequel for this story will be posted, and I'll let you guys know when that's up. The sequel will have skipped third and fourth year and will go straight to fifth year, so I'll try to merge a little recap into the chapter rather than putting it as an A/N in the beginning. **

**I hope you've enjoyed this story, I know I've enjoyed writing it, and I hope you join me and Midnight again in fifth year!**

**Until then, thanks for reading!**


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